Formula One : PITSTOP

[jamesbond]

Formula One's 'silly season' moves into overdrive


By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) - Sizzling temperatures are forecast for next week's Hungarian Grand Prix, the halfway point in the season, and Formula One's 'silly season' of rumour and speculation is heating up accordingly.
Valtteri Bottas to Ferrari instead of fellow-Finn Kimi Raikkonen? Felipe Nasr to Williams? And what about Jenson Button?
"Man, what a morning! The heat wave has reached lots of countries especially Italy. Let's turn on the air conditioning and keep cool," Bottas's manager Didier Coton said in a Twitter post on Friday.
The Monaco-based Belgian, who once worked with double champion Mika Hakkinen, may simply have been referring to the ambient temperature in his part of the world.
But much more likely he was commenting on a report in Italy's Corriere dello Sport newspaper that Ferrari had reached a deal with Williams to replace one Finn with another in 2016.
It claimed that Williams would be paid some 12 million euros ($13.02 million) for releasing Bottas early from an option on his contract.
Ferrari and Williams refused to bite.
"We don't ever comment on our contracts of any description, and certainly not driver contracts," said a Williams spokeswoman.
Raikkonen, who returned to Ferrari in 2014 after a year with Lotus, was eclipsed by Fernando Alonso last season and has also lost out to new team mate Sebastian Vettel in 2015.
Bottas, 10 years younger at 25, has long been seen as a leading candidate to replace the 2007 world champion when Raikkonen's contract expires at the end of the season but not the only one.
Force India's Nico Hulkenberg, passed over by the sport's oldest and most glamorous team last time around, is now a Le Mans winner although Ferrari may not be keen on an all-German lineup.
If Bottas moves, and it is not a given, Williams will have plenty of choice.
The former champions, who finished third overall last year, are well out of the slump that sent them as low as ninth in 2013 and their Mercedes engines make them highly desirable.
Brazilian Felipe Nasr, who has made an impressive debut with Sauber after a stint as Williams reserve, might be one candidate with compatriot Felipe Massa already on board and looking like staying.
And what about Jenson Button's future?
While McLaren boss Ron Dennis emphasised recently that the 2009 world champion has a contract through to the end of 2016, that has not stopped the rumour mill wondering whether the Briton might not have one more move up his sleeve.
Button started out at Williams in 2000. With McLaren currently in the doldrums and having two young talents to accommodate in GP2 leader Stoffel Vandoorne and F1 reserve Kevin Magnussen, what price a romantic return?
With the silly season under starter's orders, that one could run and run.


Lotus boss rejects driver 'robots' claims

By Alan Baldwin
LONDON (Reuters) - Teams and sponsors are not to blame if modern Formula One drivers mask their personalities and behave like robots, Lotus deputy principal Federico Gastaldi said on Friday.
Brazil's retired world champion Emerson Fittipaldi, who won titles in 1972 and 1974, said this week that drivers were becoming 'robots' as teams and sponsors sought to prevent them being themselves.
"If you drive for Ferrari, for example, before the press conference you will be told 'you cannot say this' or 'you should not say that'," Fittipaldi told motorsport.com.
"Am I a robot? Or am I a personality? That's what is missing."
Gastaldi, hitting back in a team preview for next week's Hungarian Grand Prix, denied putting any pressure on his Lotus drivers -- Frenchman Romain Grosjean and Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado.
"I understand what Emerson’s saying but I know that we as a team don’t do anything proactive to stop our drivers from saying what they think," he said.
"The drivers themselves are free to decide to say what they think, but they are talking in a very different world from when Emerson was a driver.
"Now if you say anything even slightly out of the normal it’s repeated, misreported, analysed and regurgitated across all forms of media and I think many drivers have taken a wise approach to this."
Gastaldi said if some drivers sounded "like politicians" then it was because they wanted to avoid controversy and drawing ever more questions.
"They want to drive, not spend hours discussing their opinions on whether Kim Kardashian should appear on the front of Rolling Stone magazine," he added.
A recent survey carried out in conjunction with the Grand Prix Drivers Association found that 86 percent of respondents wanted drivers to be open and honest with fans.
Mercedes' reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is likely to have an opinion on the Rolling Stone cover after spending time with Kardashian family members, said last month commercial realities sometimes made it hard for drivers.
"It is very difficult for us drivers to say certain things, because we have sponsorship deals, partners, we’ve got to represent the sport in a certain way," he said.



Bernie, French president lead tributes


Marussia driver Bianchi's family confirmed on Saturday morning that the 25-year-old had succumbed to the injuries he suffered nine months in a horror crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

"It was so sad to hear the news about Jules," Ecclestone said. "We are now going to miss a very talented driver and a really nice person. We must not let this ever happen again."

In a statement on the FIA website, it's president Jean Todt "expressed his deepest condolences to Jules' family and recognised the great pain being felt by the Bianchi family and those close to them".

French President Francois Hollande said: "French motorsport has lost one of its greatest hopes.

"My thoughts are with his parents, his family and his friends."

Meanwhile president of the French motorsport federation (FFSA) Nicolas Deschaux says Bianchi's death leaves the sport with a "huge void".

"First of all, my thoughts go out to Jules’ parents Christine and Philippe, as well as his sister Mélanie and his brother Tom," he said. "I’m immensely saddened by his passing because he was a very likeable and endearing person, loved by everyone in the paddock.

"The FFSA was very close to Jules and we enjoyed a warm relationship. We had taken him under our wing at age 15 and he was always happy to respond to our requests.

"He was the embodiment of joie de vivre, simplicity and kindness. But as soon as he was on track, he became a great fighter and was constantly going for the extra mile to surpass himself.

"As such, he was the perfect FFSA ambassador and taught our shared values to younger drivers during the numerous training camps and operations he attended.

"Along with Romain Grosjean, Jean-Eric Vergne and Charles Pic, Bianchi helped put France back on the Formula One map in 2013.

"He was a pure talent and about to reach the sport's better teams. Jules' death leaves a huge void behind."

From outside the motorsport world, former England captain David Beckham posted on Instagram: "Jules Bianchi may he rest in peace.. Our thoughts are with his family and friends".

[jamesbond]

Hamilton: One of the best

The British racer, a four-time Hungarian GP winner, has been a force to be reckoned with so far this weekend.

Topping the timesheets in all three practice sessions, Hamilton made it count on Saturday as he set the pace in qualifying to secure pole position.

His 1:22.020 was an impressive 0.575s quicker than his team-mate and second-placed Nico Rosberg.

"The work's not always done on a Saturday, I've got lots of work to do tomorrow but in terms of how the weekend has gone I'm incredibly happy with that," he said.

"I think it's so far been one of the best...

"I can't remember having the performance I've had this weekend on any weekend, so I'm really happy with that."

But, as Hamilton acknowledged, the job it not yet over.

He added: "There's a long way down into Turn One and the race is incredibly tough physically but also technically for the car, but I feel confident in my team and my car and hopefully we can convert it tomorrow."

Should Hamilton manage that feat on Sunday, he will stand alone as the driver with the most Hungarian GP wins with five to Michael Schumacher's four.

"You know it's really hard to pinpoint your favourite track in your career really because there are so many different ones," he said when asked if the Hungaroring was his favourite circuit.

"They all have such different characteristics but I honestly just really enjoy driving this track.

"I think it's the combination with the tyres and the surface. It's quite bumpy, the way the corners are, on camber, off camber and the way that the track just flows.

"It's so much fun. Monaco's fun but I don't know, I think that including the city with all the great architecture and that, I think it might be potentially just edging out Monaco. Maybe."


Vettel needs 'luck' to win

Ferrari will need an unusual Hungarian GP in order to beat Mercedes to the victory, that's according to Sebastian Vettel.

The four-time World Champion qualified third for Sunday's race, once again unable to make any inroads into Mercedes' dominant form.

His 1:22.739 was 0.719s slower than Lewis Hamilton's P1 time.

As such Vettel concedes it will take a bit of luck and some unexpected circumstances for him to take the win away from Mercedes.

"It's a great race and I definitely want to win it – hopefully tomorrow – we'll see with a bit of luck," he said. "Obviously in normal conditions it's difficult to beat these guys.

"I think it was a great recovery from a very, very bad day yesterday where we had issues with the car. Obviously Kimi had the wing failure in FP1 which caught us out also a little bit in FP2 and then, yeah, just things slowing us down. And on top of that the balance and the rhythm wasn't there.

"So, not a great day and not that easy to recover but spent a lot of time last night trying to clear up the situation and fortunately it worked. We started off on a much better foot this morning and obviously were able to carry that into qualifying.

"We knew it will be tight, especially with Red Bulls as they showed very, very strong pace yesterday but we managed to stay ahead – so that's good for today but for tomorrow obviously there's a big job to be done.

"We focus on the race, trying to defend that third place and, as I said, I wouldn't mind if I could turn your question around and answer in a different way tomorrow."

Pressed as to whether he was worried about Red Bull's pace come Sunday's race, the German admitted that his former team team has made strides forward in recent races.

He is, however, hoping that having beaten them in qualifying, he can do the same in the race.

"I think they have made a step closer to – ultimately – Mercedes, if you consider them being at the front so if you look at the gap they had, I think some races ago, and the gap they have now, they are a lot closer. I think it was fairly evident at Silverstone already so it was expected that they have a strong weekend here as well.

"So I expect them to be strong tomorrow, but we managed to outqualify them which means that we are quicker. Obviously yesterday we cannot really compare because for us it was not a good day. Hopefully we can get a good comparison in tomorrow's race and come out on top."

Tech Corner: Ferrari Updates

Front Wing
The Scuderia's front wing has remained largely unchanged throughout 2015 as the team concentrate their efforts in other areas of the car. However, for Silverstone the team made several amendments in an effort to change the flow structures that control the front tyres wake. The team have added an additional vertical strake within their cascade (marked in green), whilst the outboard endplate canard has been totally removed (dark blue on the old specification wing). Both of these are performing very similar roles, turning airflow around the outside of the front tyre, but create a very different result in terms of the way they'll shape other aero structures in doing so. Additionally they have made changes to the outer arc profile of the mainplane and flaps (marked in purple) to accompany the aforementioned changes, compartmentalising the outer section of wing much more, just like we have seen Mercedes do earlier in the season.

The difference in terms of downforce levels between Austria and Silverstone are pretty stark and so the team also made several changes to the upper flap in order to achieve the best lap times. You'll note the cut out in the upper flap (light blue line), whilst a gurney trim has been added to the inner edge of the flap, changing the way in which pressure builds and the flap vortex is generated.

New Camera Mounts
The FIA changed the regulations ahead of the 2015 season to try and prohibit the type of extended camera mounts Ferrari (and others) used in 2014. The team made changes to their mounts at the pre-season test to retain the airflow characteristics they desired but stay within the regulations. They arrived in Silverstone with a revised set of mounts (which are now very similar to Mercedes design), that have a minimal connection to the nose and have a shorter vertical stem whilst retaining the camera positions.

Rear brake duct fin
At the rear of the car we find further changes to the rear brake duct fin, having slotted the upper horizontal section and increased its angle of attack in Spain the team have now detached the whole forward element (highlighted in green) with just three small attachment points (marked in red) holding the element to the main brake duct fin. Once again this allows the leading elements angle of attack to be increased which isn't possible without the slot as the flow would separate. These changes show the desire by the team to control how the tyres wake influences other airflow structures, with the new parts changing the impact on elements like the diffuser and rearward brake duct fins.

Most of these changes are just part of the development path for the SF15-T rather than circuit specific and so we'll likely see them bring a larger performance advantage down the line.

[jamesbond]

[ccenter][/center]
FERRARI wins Hungarian Grand Prix! (July 26,2015)



Vettel: This victory is for Jules
It has been an emotional week for the Formula 1 community after Bianchi died from the injuries he sustained during last year's Japanese GP. Those at Ferrari were affected more than most as the Frenchman came through the ranks at Maranello and was being groomed to take over from Kimi Raikkonen.

Putting his emotions to one side, Vettel produced a brilliant display at the Hungaroring, coming from third on the grid to claim the victory ahead of the Red Bulls of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo.

He immediately paid tribute to Bianchi after taking the chequered flag, saying over the team radio: "You will always be in our hearts.

"We know sooner or later Jules would have been a part of this team."

The German later added in the post-race interviews: "Incredible day, but this victory is for Jules.

"We know it has been an incredibly tough week, and for all of us very difficult, so this one is for him.

"For all the people within Ferrari, all the Ferrari fans, we knew sooner or later he would have been part of our team, part of this family."

Despite leading from start to finish, Vettel didn't have it all his own way as the deployment of the Safety Car following Nico Hulkenberg's crash bunched up the field.

He managed to stay ahead of the chasing pack, but Nico Rosberg in the Mercedes and Ricciardo were breathing down his neck late in the race before the two made contact, which gave him an easy ride until the end.

"Definitely from our point of view there was no need for that [the safety car]," he said.

"It obviously made it a lot more interesting in the end.

"We had a great start, obviously it was crucial to get into the lead straight away.

"The car was difficult but great to drive, and it has been a great race, we showed great pace, so thanks to the team for the recovery since Friday.

"Today it just came together, and despite the safety car we still managed to win, so this one is for the team as well."



Hulkenberg: There was little warning
Nico Hulkenberg was unaware that he had a front wing issue until he felt a "harsh vibration" just before it broke off.

Racing for points at Sunday's Hungarian GP, Hulkenberg's race ended when his VJM08 suffered a front wing failure.

The wing was shattered as he drove over it before spearing nose first into the barriers.

"It's a shame we lost the opportunity to get a great result today," said the Force India driver.

"I didn't have much warning that there was a problem with the front wing - there was a harsh vibration just before it broke and after that I was heading straight into the barriers.

"The final impact was not too bad because that part of the track is well protected and it absorbed the energy nicely."

Prior to that it has been a good afternoon as he was comfortably inside the top ten and racing towards another points finish.

"Up until the accident, things were looking very positive: I had made a great start and was racing with the Red Bulls, which shows the step forward we have made with the b-spec car," he added.

Despite his disappointment over losing the points, Hulkenberg says Force India can draw plenty of positives as they head into the summer break.

"The good news is that we have time over the next week to analyse what happened today and get the solutions in place before the summer break.

"Reliability has been a real strength of ours this season so it's unusual for us to have these issues and the team will do its homework before we arrive in Spa.

"I go into the summer break knowing that we are competitive and that we can have a strong second half of the season."



Lewis rues 'worst display in a long time'

Just 24 hours after declaring he was having his best weekend ever, Lewis Hamilton produced one of his "worst performances in a long, long time".

Hamilton was easily the fastest man in all three practice sessions in Hungary and then he came up with sizzling effort in qualifying on Saturday to secure his ninth pole position in 10 races this campaign.

"I think it's so far been one of the best...," he said after qualy. "I can't remember having the performance I've had this weekend on any weekend, so I'm really happy with that."

His fortunes turned for the worse on race day as he was slow off the line and found himself behind the Ferraris of Sebasian Vettel and Kimi Raikkonen, and Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg after the first corner.

He then slipped even further down the track after he was squeezed out by Rosberg. Although he fought back and appeared to be on course for a possible podium, he made contact with Daniel Ricciardo.

Not only was he forced to make another pit stop for a new front wing, but he was also handed a penalty for causing the accident.

"What a day... That was a hard afternoon. I had a very bad day in the office," Hamilton said after the race.

He later added to BBC Sport: "I was all over the place. I don't have any words to explain what happened today. It was a really bad performance from myself.

"I pushed and never gave up but when I had two different choices I chose the wrong one very time."

Despite his troubled race, he still finished sixth place, two places ahead of Rosberg and increased his lead in the standings to 21 points.

"Today was weird. Do I deserve any points? I didn't give up and drove as hard as I could," he continued.

"To come away from one of the worst performances I've put in in a long, long time... it shows we are human.

"The team worked incredibly hard but I'll come back stronger."


Seb 'trying to make the impossible possible'

We have reached the halfway stage of the 2015 season and incredibly Sebastian Vettel still finds himself within striking distance of the title and the German is excited to see "where the journey" takes Ferrari.

On the back of Mercedes' dominant display in 2014, everyone expected Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg to run away with things again this year, especially after the pair won eight of the first nine races this year.

Vettel and Ferrari, though, first made everyone sit up and take note with their win in Malaysia and then showed in Hungary on Sunday that they cannot be written off as they claimed their second victory of the campaign.

The German finds himself just 42 points adrift of Hamilton in the Drivers' standings while he is only 21 points behind Rosberg, who is second, with nine races still to go.

Although he knows Ferrari still have their work cut out, the four-time World Champion has vowed to give it his all.

"There is still a lot of work to do to catch up but you never know," he said. "I am sure we will try absolutely everything and try to make the impossible possible.

"The best way to do that is remain calm and try to do your best and then we see where the journey takes us."

Sunday's victory was his first at the Hungaroring, but one stat that was pleasing was the fact that he joined Ayrton Senna on 41 Formula 1 race victories. Only Michael Schumacher (91) and Alain Prost (51) are now ahead of him.

"Mentioning Senna’s record is something incredible. I don’t know how to put this in words," he said.

[jamesbond]

Raikkonen 'will keep trying'
Kimi Raikkonen is determined to bounce back from his Hungarian disappointment as he looks to secure his Ferrari seat for next season.

With rumours about his pending dismissal gaining momentum, Raikkonen was in need of a great race last Sunday.

The Finn did his part as he put his SF15-T up into second place, chasing his team-mate Sebastian Vettel in a Ferrari 1-2.

His efforts, though, came to naught when he lost power due to an MGU-K problem.

Raikkonen soldiered on, dropping down the order, but eventually retired after the team were unable to fix it.

With his Ferrari seat on the line - and Valtteri Bottas reportedly waiting in the wings - Raikkonen acknowledges that a bad result just compounds the issue.

He said: "When it goes wrong with us, with the car or with me, it is just the end result is not good.

"It's part of the game, an unfortunate thing and not a nice thing to have but what can you do?

"We will keep trying and I'm sure it will turn out to be good at some point this year and who knows what happens next year.

"It's not in my hands, it's in the teams, so let's see."

The 35-year-old, the last driver to win a World title for Ferrari, reiterated his belief that he has the pace needed to remain in F1.

"I've had some disappointments last year and this year and I'm sure this year we have had good speed all the time and we just kept having these issues here and there and a mistake here and there," he told ESPN.

"It has shown the wrong results because of those, but if I didn't have the speed I would not believe in myself. I would stop if I didn't feel I had the speed or the passion."

Hakkinen: Top-notch Vettel a threat
Mika Hakkinen believes Sebastian Vettel is now a real "threat" in the hunt for the Drivers' title following some "top notch" performances.

With Mercedes having the best car on the grid yet again, many felt the battle for the 2015 crown would be between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

However, Vettel claimed his second win of the season at the Hungarian Grand Prix last time out to close the gap to Hamilton to 42 points in the Drivers' standings while he is only 21 points behind second-placed Rosberg.

With nine races still left this season, double World Champion Hakkinen says Vettel now represents a real danger to the Merc drivers, and his odds have also been shortened by Paddy Power.

"Vettel is a threat because we are only halfway through the season and there are still a lot of points on offer. Vettel is currently very convincing and his performances are top notch," the Finn wrote in his latest blog for Hermes.

Hamilton, though, remains favourite for the title with Paddy Power and he did his Championship hopes no harm as actually extended his lead despite having one of the worst races of his career.

First he had a nightmare start as he was beaten off the line by the Ferraris, then he ran wide and also made contact with Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo late in the race.

"Lewis' race went wrong right from the start. The part where he went into the grass is really difficult, especially at the beginning of a race," Hakkinen said.

"The braking point in the first round is a little different, that has to do with the hustle and bustle of the opening lap. There is not much room and Lewis lost a lot of places.

"He tried to attack several times, which resulted in contact. It's a miracle he saw the chequered flag."

Bottas finds Ferrari rumours unsettling
Valtteri Bottas has admitted that the constant speculation linking him with a move from Williams to Ferrari is "disturbing".

The Finn has been mooted as a possible replacement for the under pressure Kimi Raikkonen, with some reports suggesting that Ferrari have entered into talks with Williams about securing Bottas' services ahead of the 2016 campaign.

The 26-year-old, who is in his third season with Williams, insists his focus is completely on securing a race win for the Grove-based team, and not on what next season may hold.

"Once you're in the car you don't think about any speculation there is," he told Press Association Sport.

"There is nothing in your mind other than driving, but out of the car of course it is disturbing when there are some rumours.

"People are asking the same questions all of the time but it is Formula One and you have to deal with it. For me it doesn't make any difference who the speculation is with.

"In principle it isn't fair to Williams or to Kimi, there is nothing confirmed as to what will happen - it will be best just to leave us in peace and we can focus on the driving. When there is news it will be announced."

A race win may seem an unlikely prospect for Bottas considering that he has managed just one podium finish this season, but he believes that Sebastian Vettel's win in Hungary last weekend is an indication that the dominant Mercedes outfit are there for the taking.

"Mercedes are really strong at the moment but Ferrari showed in Budapest that it is possible to beat them," he said.

"Never say never, we are still aiming to win races. They have a really quick car but anything can happen in motorsport.

"We need to believe in it and take every opportunity - it could be there this season."

Tech Corner: Williams' Front Wing

Matt Somerfield looks at Williams' front wing, which has received positive feedback from the drivers after being introduced at Silverstone practice.

The boys and girls in Grove have been busy of late with a plethora of changes to the FW37 in recent races. They briefly ran a new front wing design in Free Practice at Silverstone but shelved it to concentrate on setup. However, the initial feedback from the drivers was extremely positive, with the change in ethos getting a big thumbs up.

The new wing is a sea change in their approach with the outer mainplane & flap design echoing the Championship leading Mercedes design introduced earlier in the season. The idea of which is to compartmentalize the wings functions with the outboard section used to control the front tyres wake.

New vs Old front wing illustration

It's really only the cascades that have been retained with the new wing, which as you can see I have illustrated with them removed allowing you to see the detail in behind them.

The endplate (purple) has been elongated, in order to bend around over the footplate at the trailing edge. Meanwhile a canard (light blue) has been added to the outboard edge of the endplate which will create a pressure gradient, which will shed a vortex and help to pull the airflow outward around the front tyre. 

The inner arc has been moved further inboard, creating an expanding tunnel that deals almost exclusively with shaping the front tyres wake (marked in green), whilst the movement of the arc means the space leftover is populated by several slots that help to shape the airflow and keep it attached to the inner surface of this tunnel (marked in yellow).

The problem with an aerodynamic c-change of this size means that this is just the first phase of a development curve, that'll take several GP's and several new parts to fully extract the benefits.

[jamesbond]

Merc urged to be 'relentless' in title push
The batteries have been recharged and they are ready to race again after the summer break, but Mercedes have been warned that they need to be "relentless" in the title push.

The reigning Champions were given a wake-up call at the Hungarian Grand Prix as Sebastian Vettel claimed his and Ferrari's second victory of the season.

To add insult to injury, no Mercedes car was on the podium - and you have to go back to 2013 for the last time that happened - as Lewis Hamilton finished sixth despite starting in pole position while Nico Rosberg was down in eighth.

Teams and drivers have had time to regroup during the summer break, but Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff says his team now needs to kick on if they want to retain their titles.

"With ten races down and nine to go, we enter the second half of the season with a stronger points total than at this stage last year," he said.

"And yet, our margin to the competition is actually smaller. There is never a moment you can take your foot off the gas and Hungary proved once again that any slip is an opportunity our rivals will grab with both hands.

"We have all enjoyed a chance to recharge over the summer - but we have also kept our minds focused on what lies ahead. There are still many chances to win or lose this battle and we must be relentless in our push to come out on top."





Ferrari not getting carried away
Ferrari are determined to stay grounded following their recent success with the team insisting they are not suddenly "brilliant" after their win in Hungary.

The Maranello-based squad are having a solid season with Sebastian Vettel winning the Malaysian and Hungarian Grands Prix, but they have also had their downs as they failed to shine at the British Grand Prix and only got a podium after a brilliant strategic call from the pitlane.

Although the team are on a high as Vettel won in Hungary last time out, head of communications for Scuderia Ferrari Alberto Antonini warns that they won't get carried away.

"The fact we won in Hungary doesn't change our approach to the next race," he told the official Ferrari website.

"We didn’t think we were going through a crisis after Silverstone and we don’t believe we are brilliant now.

"We are keeping our feet on the ground, as we know we are up against some very strong opposition, but we will give it our best shot as always."




McLaren set for more grid penalties
Honda will be taking a new-spec engine to Spa this weekend, but the Japanese manufacturer admits Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button should brace themselves for more penalties.

It has been a frustrating campaign for McLaren and their engine partner so far, but they have showed signs of recovery with both drivers finishing in the points at the Hungarian GP.

Honda has also since confirmed they have used some of their in-season tokens ahead of the Belgian GP and will also introduce a new-spec engine, giving them good odds with Paddy Power for another double points finish.

However, Alonso and Button have been warned to expect more grid penalties as the MP4-30 is likely to take a lot of strain at the power-hungry Spa circuit.

Both drivers received 25-place grid penalties at the Austrian GP after using a fifth power unit, but they were then handed a "free" power unit change in Hungary following a tweak to the regulations.

Honda motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai, though, admits they "expect grid penalties" at the "unforgiving power circuit", and you can bet on the results and more at Paddy Power.

"As we planned, Honda has updated our combustion characteristics to further improve our power units for Spa and the second half of the season," he said.

"This weekend's free practices will be important to test the pairing of the power units to the cars. The Belgian race, however, will surely be a difficult one for the team and drivers, with expected grid penalties and a long and unforgiving power circuit.

"Nevertheless, McLaren-Honda's focus is to improve race by race. We know we can learn a lot from the circuit for immediate future, and hope that we can come out of the weekend with some positives."

[jamesbond]

Lewis hopes new starts add excitement

Lewis Hamilton says Mercedes have done their homework on the new start procedures ahead of the Belgian GP, adding he hopes it provides plenty of excitement for the fans.

For the 10th time this season, Hamilton will start a F1 race in pole position after he beat Merc team-mate Nico Rosberg by a comfortable 0.458s margin in the final qualifying session at Spa on Saturday afternoon.

Mercedes, though, haven't had it all their own way at race starts recently as they were beaten off the line by the Williams cars at Silverstone while the Ferraris upstaged them in Hungary.

To spice things up further, the new start procedures will be used for the first time on Sunday and the pitwall will no longer be allowed to make changes to the clutch bite point once the car leaves for the track. Drivers will also only be given "critical" information about their cars.

Hamilton, though, says everyone at Mercedes have made sure they are prepared.

"The team have done a lot of analysis and I have been at the factory, same for Nico, practicing and getting ready on the simulator," he said. "And then all this weekend we have been working on it.

"So we are as prepared as we can possibly be. We feel relatively good about it. It should be the same for everyone and I hope it's good for us, but provides an exciting start for the fans."

Saturday's P1 also ensured he will win this year's Pole Position Trophy as there are only eight races left while it was also his sixth consecutive pole, but he knows the job is not done.

"Of course we are conscious that pole position is a great thing to have, but it's a long race and a long, long stretch down to Turn 5," he said.

"I am just happy with today. My goal today was to get pole position. Nico was very close. The last two laps were the best I have had all weekend. So am very happy with them and grateful for the big effort, big push that the team continue to put in to give us the car that we have."



Qualy: Hamilton storms to Belgian pole

Lewis Hamilton secured his sixth successive pole position as he put in a storming display at Spa to beat Nico Rosberg by almost half a second.

Saturday's qualifying got underway in near perfect conditions with blue skies overhead and a hot asphalt underneath.

As expected Mercedes set the pace in Q1 and followed that up with another 1-2 in the second segment.

That session saw Kimi Raikkonen fall by the wayside as his SF15-T lost power when "something broke". With the Finn stopping out on track at Turn 14, the session was briefly red flagged as the marshals pushed his car behind a fence.

The session restarted without Max Verstappen as Toro Rosso declared "that's it for us, session is over" in light of the Dutchman's 10-place grid penalty.

Nico Hulkenberg, Daniil Kvyat and Marcus Ericsson were the remaining three drivers to drop out at the final hurdle, however, Force India, Red Bull and Sauber all managed to get one driver into the pole position shoot-out.

That was dominated by Mercedes as Hamilton and Rosberg duked it out. The Championship leader threw down the gauntlet with a 1:47.449 but Rosberg was only able to answer with a 1:47.895.

For their second runs Hamilton was again the first of the Mercedes driver to venture out. This time it was a 1:47.197 while Rosberg could only manage a 1:47.655, 0.458s slower than his team-mate.

Hamilton's pole means he is the first driver since Michael Schumacher in 2000/1 to claim six poles in succession.

Valtteri Bottas brought his Williams across the line with the third best time, 1.340s while Romain Grosjean was fourth.

The Lotus driver edged out Sergio Perez, Daniel Ricciardo and Felipe Massa. The quartet separated by 0.150s!

Pastor Maldonado was eighth quickest ahead of Sebastian Vettel and Carlos Sainz.

Meanwhile McLaren may not have been slowest on the day - Jenson Button was 17th and Fernando Alonso 18th - but they will start the grand prix from the very back of the grid.

Both cars had a double engine change and amassed a combined penalty of 105 places.

Times
1 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1:47.197
2 Nico Rosberg Mercedes 1:47.655 +0.458
3 Valtteri Bottas Williams 1:48.537 1.340
4 Romain Grosjean Lotus 1:48.561 1.364
5 Sergio Perez Force India 1:48.599 1.402
6 Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull 1:48.639 1.442
7 Felipe Massa Williams 1:48.685 1.488
8 Pastor Maldonado Lotus 1:48.754 1.557
9  Sebastian Vettel Ferrari 1:48.825 1.628
10 Carlos Sainz Toro Rosso 1:49.771 2.574
11 Nico Hulkenberg Force India 1:49.121
12 Daniil Kvyat Red Bull 1:49.228
13 Marcus Ericsson Sauber 1:49.586
14 Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari No time
15 Max Verstappen Toro Rosso No time
16 Felipe Nasr Sauber 1:49.952
17 Jenson Button McLaren 1:50.978
18 Fernando Alonso McLaren 1:51.420
19 Will Stevens Manor 1:52.948
20 Roberto Merhi Manor 1:53.099



Kimi not sure what happened

Kimi Raikkonen admits Ferrari are yet to get to the bottom of his car woes during qualifying for the Belgian GP.

Having impressed at Hungary last time out, Ferrari were expected to be right up there again at Spa this weekend and the early signs suggested they would once again be in the mix.

However, Raikkonen was hit by some bad luck in Q2 as he suffered a sudden loss of power out on track with the Finn telling the team that "something broke". It was later added that there was an oil pressure drop on his SF15-T.

Ferrari, though, are yet to fully understand what caused the problem.

"I don’t know exactly what happened, I lost some drive and had to stop," he said. "It’s too early to say what the problem was, we have to wait to know more about the issue.

"Our car has been handling pretty nice all weekend, unfortunately the issue has come at the bad time, my position could have been a bit better. Yesterday we had been trying few different things and I think we had made the right choices for today.

"Obviously we know we have to improve in all areas. My starting position will make my race very tricky but I hope that the race condition will turn in our favour. It’s important to go through the first corner: even if it won’t be easy to get past Mercedes-engined cars, we’ll keep fighting and doing our best."

[jamesbond]

Vettel: Changes easily identifiable

Former World Champion Sebastian Vettel said the changes to the Ferrari car, ahead of the 2016 campaign, will be quite apparent when the racing fraternity catches a glimpse of it.

Vettel, who was directly involved with the development of the 2016 car for most of last year,  said the expectations would be high this term, adding that the team was really heading in the right direction.

"Basically, a few things will change and they will be identified fairly easily," Vettel told Auto Bild Motorsport this week.

"For almost the entire time last year I was involved in the development of the 2016 car. I think we are on the right track," added Vettel.

The dominance of Formula 1 rivals Mercedes has been well documented during the past two seasons and Vettel feels Ferrari is now in the position to close that gap significantly, at the very least this term.

"The title has to be our aim," said Vettel.

"Nevertheless, we must not forget that there was still a team ahead of us last year," said Vettel.

[jamesbond]

Michael Schumacher: Latest news not good, says Luca di Montezemolo



F1 great Michael Schumacher's former boss at Ferrari has said the latest news about the German's health "is not good" but has refused to elaborate.

"I have news and unfortunately it is not good," Luca di Montezemolo told reporters on Thursday.

When contacted by BBC Sport, Schumacher's official spokesperson Sabine Kehm declined to comment.

Seven-time world champion Schumacher, 47, suffered severe head injuries in a skiing accident in December 2013.

Read more about Michael Schumacher
Schumacher injured in skiing accident in France
Schumacher: a career in pictures
Injured ex-F1 driver makes 'progress'
Schumacher continues to receive intensive treatment at his home in Switzerland following the accident in France.

In November, FIA president Jean Todt said Schumacher was "still fighting", almost two years after the accident.

"Life is strange," added Di Montezemolo.

"He was a fantastic driver and only had one accident with Ferrari in 1999."



Michael Schumacher career statistics

Born: 3 January 1969
Teams: Jordan (1991) Benetton (1991-1995), Ferrari (1996-2006), Mercedes (2010-2012)
First GP start: Belgium 1991
Last GP start: Brazil 2012
First GP win: Belgium 1992
Last GP win: China 2006
Races started: 303
Wins: 91 (155 podium finishes)
Championships: 7 (1994, 1995, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004)

[naruto789544]

hope he recovers.... after senna he is one of my favorite formula 1 driver...