FORMULA 1 - 2015

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Wolff: Rosberg must wait for new deal

Mercedes F1 driver Nico Rosberg will have to wait until later in the season for negotiations to get started over a new contract, according to boss Toto Wolff.

Rosberg's current two-year deal was signed in 2014 and expires after the 2016 season, and negotiations will start once Wolff has assessed the coming season.

In an interview with Autosport, Wolff said that he was very happy with drivers Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton.

"The current line-up is a great line-up," Wolff told Autosport. "Both of them are a major part of the team and responsible for getting the team to where we are today.

"But it's early days to discuss [Rosberg's contract]. I want to see how the season pans out. There are areas we want to develop altogether as a team, and let's see how that goes."

World champion Hamilton is tied to Mercedes after signing a contract up until 2018.

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Haas on schedule for crash test, Barcelona test debut

The Haas F1 Team are on track to debut their car at the first test of the season in Barcelona on February 22, with crash testing already scheduled for the yet unnamed chassis.

The American based team will join the grid in 2016 and has struck a technical partnership with Ferrari, meaning it has not only sourced its engine from the Italian team, but many components as well including transmission and suspension.

That has helped Haas to ensure it can be ready in time and team principal Günther Steiner confirmed their debut chassis will be ready in time for the first test.

"The work is going to plan so we are pretty happy," he told Sky Sports. "Everything seems to be coming together. [The car] has been designed and signed off.

"The production planning is going well, we'll start production of the car in January."

When asked if he was confident Haas would make the first test, he replied: "As confident as we can be. We're very confident."

Meanwhile Steiner admitted not even he knows what colour the car will be amid rumours they could run Ferrari yellow, and it's likely to be kept a secret until the car is launched in Barcelona.

"Mr Haas has not decided yet," he said. "I think it's a very personal decision and we give him time until the last minute. I actually don't know.

"We have no spare time [to launch early]. We will roll it out the day before testing in Barcelona."

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Half a second of Ferrari's gain down to fuel - Shell

Almost half a second a lap of Ferrari's 2015 improvement was down to fuel and lubricant development alone, the Italian team's supplier has claimed.

Ferrari's competitive gains in the F1 season just ended was one of the big stories of the campaign, as the Scuderia's results were transformed from just two podium finishes and fourth place in the constructors' standings in its difficult 2014, to 16 podiums - including three wins - and runners' up spot overall this time.

According to its long-time partner Shell the improvement in fuel and lubricant alone equated to nearly half a second per lap or to around 30 seconds per race, as well as representing a quarter of Ferrari's much-vaunted total power unit gain since the previous season, a gain which it said was "unparalleled".

"It was always our plan to adopt a more aggressive strategy in 2015 with the development of our Shell V-Power race fuel in comparison to previous years," said Guy Lovett, Shell's innovation manager of motorsport.

"We really applied our learnings from 2014, a year of new and innovative hybrid technology, to our 2015 race fuel, of which we introduced five new powerful blends.

"We worked closer than ever with our colleagues in Maranello where we fully integrated our development plans to optimise the fuel-engine package and it was great to see that our hard work paid off, helping to power the team back to winning ways. Now the hard work continues ahead of 2016."

Ferrari's Technical Director James Allison added that it all helped performance as well as reliability this season.

"2015 was a really positive year for Scuderia Ferrari and we made great strides in performance, particularly with the power unit, compared to last year" he said. "The considerable improvements Shell made...really did contribute to our own improvements on the race track, not only helping to deliver greater horsepower but reliability as well."

Allison also confirmed that Ferrari with Shell is aiming for titles in future seasons: "Our Technical Partnership with Shell has never been stronger and we look forward to continuing our work with them for at least the next five years with the aim of winning more races and championships."

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Stevens "100 percent confident" of 2016 Manor seat

Will Stevens says he is "100 percent confident" of landing a race seat with Manor for the 2016 Formula 1 season.

The Briton joined the struggling squad for 2015 after making his debut with the now-defunct Caterham team in last year’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Manor is the only team with vacant seats for next season, but the outfit has yet to confirm any drivers - although Rio Haryanto’s bid to land a drive with the team has been boosted by major Indonesian government backing.

"As I've said before, we are in a good position," Stevens said of his future. "Obviously we'd love everything sorted as quickly as we can from my point of view because it's nice to go into the winter break having things firmed up.

"But if it's going to happen I'm sure it's not going to be far away. In terms of how confident I am to get the seat, I'm 100 percent confident.

"Everything just needs to come together and there's a lot of people working away from the track on my behalf.

"We've had some very productive meetings and everything is moving in the right direction."

One eye on 2017

Stevens, 24, insists he is working towards a long-term deal in F1.

"It's not a case of I don't get in for next year is going to ruin my chances for the year after that," he said.

"What we want to achieve is that I'm not sitting here at the end of next year saying 'will I get an seat for 2017?'

"What we've always worked on is to get the longevity and to get security for my future in F1. We are working hard to figure out the right things to do.

"We are not in a position where there's a lot of seats left. I'm in a good position as anyone to get a seat for next year. If anyone was in a better position I'm sure they would have been signed by now.

"We are happy with where we are at, we've got good discussion going on and hopefully we won't be in that predicament in a few months' time."

Mercedes boost

With Manor having secured Mercedes engines for 2016, Stevens is optimistic the team can take a massive step forward.

The British driver struggled at the back of the field all year, and is hoping to be lapped less often next season.

"This year is going to be hopefully the worst is ever going to get for me," said Stevens. "Obviously the performance upgrade for next year will be massive.

"I'm sure there's cars in the middle of the field that are going to get lapped, so it's going to be the same story, but I think in Brazil I was lapped three or maybe four laps, so I would like things not to be in that region."

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Analysis: The real cost of PDVSA sponsoring Pastor Maldonado

Lotus Formula 1 driver Pastor Maldonado may enjoy millions of dollars worth of backing from Venezuelan state oil giant PDVSA, but the cost of such largesse is felt keenly by his compatriots back home.

In recent years, extreme inflation, financial mismanagement, and shortages of basic goods and services have made daily life challenging for the average Venezuelan citizen.

Recent elections have caused a shift in political power, but life on the ground will be slow to change.

While the opposition party now has control of Venezuela’s National Assembly, President Nicolas Maduro has announced the creation of a parallel ‘people’s parliament’, which political observers have called a last-ditch attempt to hold on to some form of legislative authority.

But the election results are not the only challenge currently being faced by Maduro and his allies, thanks to ongoing investigations into allegations that the Venezuelan government used PDVSA to “loot billions of dollars from the country through kickbacks and other schemes”, while also “attempting to determine whether PDVSA and its foreign bank accounts were used for other illegal purposes, including black-market currency schemes and laundering drug money”.

Corruption rife

Venezuelan petro-chemical giant PDVSA has been a significant - if silent - player in global motorsports in recent years. In addition to their personal sponsorship of Pastor Maldonado in Formula 1, PDVSA have in the past backed GP2’s Rodolfo Gonzalez and IndyCar’s EJ Viso, while in 2012 GP2 team Lazarus was sponsored by the company.

The current US investigations do not allege any impropriety in PDVSA’s sports sponsorship, but instead focus on corruption at every level within the company.

According to reports in the Wall Street Journal, when the directors of an unnamed Spanish construction firm secured a meeting with then-PDVSA president Rafael Ramirez (now Venezuela’s ambassador to the United Nations) to discuss an electro-power project, they were told that if they did not have $150 million in kickbacks to hand, they may as well go straight back to the airport.

Ramirez is believed to be one of the main targets of the current investigations. A committed Chavista who once threatened to “liquidate the enemies of the revolution” should Hugo Chavez lose a forthcoming election, the UN ambassador built up a substantial private fortune during his time leading PDVSA, and was dogged by widespread accusations of corrupt business practices, including filling senior PDVSA roles with family members.

Federal prosecutors from four US states met earlier this year to share evidence across a number of PDVSA-related enquiries, and that meeting also involved officials from the Drug Enforcement Agency, the Department of Homeland Security, and the FBI.

Investigations into corruption at PDVSA are ongoing, but the DEA has filed drug-trafficking charges against two of Maduro’s nephews by marriage, and the chief of Venezuela’s border agency is reportedly next in the firing line for his alleged role in easing the flow of narcotics through the country.

A defiant President

For Maduro, the charges and investigations have provided yet more fuel with which to fan the flames of anti-American sentiment in the socialist country.

Like Chavez before him, Maduro has found it convenient to blame both the United States and his own opposition for creating an “economic war”, which has led to annual inflation of at least 70 percent (although the International Monetary Fund estimates 160 percent) and an economy expected to contract by 10 percent this year.

Ramirez himself has already used that approach, taking to Twitter to deny allegations of corruption, saying media reports into the matter attacks were propagated “by enemies of the people”, aimed at destabilising the regime in retaliation for Chavez having re-nationalised the oil firm with a view to directing its profits back to the Venezuelan people.

It is unlikely that any consequences of the investigations will be felt in the F1 paddock. American jurisdiction over Venezuelan companies is non-existent, after all.

But the perilous state of the Venezuelan economy means that a trickle-down effect is likely to be felt throughout the population as the international community’s faith in the country’s ability to pay its bills plummets further still.

To sponsor, or not to sponsor?

PDVSA has long been viewed as the financial arm of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV), and with the oil giant in trouble, it will be nigh-on impossible for the Venezuelan government to secure the necessary credit to keep up the current paltry flow of foodstuffs and medicines into the country.

The lack of basic necessities in Venezuela has been causing social unrest for over a year, with reports of citizens dying in knife fights over the last packets of toilet paper and loaves of bread left on store shelves.

The PSUV maintained a certain degree of popular support from those who benefited from PDVSA’s riches during the Chavez years, but as the recent parliamentary elections have shown, that popular support has waned in the face of vital shortages and increasing violent crime in a desperate country.

The effect on Venezuela’s political landscape of the creation of Maduro’s new ‘people’s parliament’ remains to be seen.

But with public sentiment now focused on repairing the damage done to the national economy in recent years, the government will be forced to choose between using PDVSA sponsorship to promote Venezuela in F1 through Maldonado, or diverting those funds into keeping Venezuelans happy at home.

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Vergne respects being turned down by Haas F1

Jean-Eric Vergne says he respects the Haas Formula 1 team’s decision to turn him down for a seat in its first year of Grand Prix competition.

After losing his Toro Rosso drive at the end of 2014, Vergne joined Ferrari, whose ties to Haas are well documented, as test driver, prompting speculation he could be considered for a 2016 race seat at the American outfit.

But the Frenchman’s hopes of an F1 reprieve were dashed when Romain Grosjean and fellow Ferrari tester Esteban Gutierrez were chosen to form Haas’ line-up.

Despite being passed over, Vergne said he remained committed to Ferrari - and didn't rule out a Grand Prix return at some stage in the future.

“Obviously as a racing driver you want to be racing at the top, and F1 is where the top is, but I respect the decision,” Vergne told Motorsport.com.

“[Haas] are doing things very professionally and I hope the best for them. I'm sure they can have a good car and I wish the best for the two drivers.

“Things happen for a reason and hopefully something good will happen, you never know.

“My focus is on Ferrari, and wherever my position is I will give my best to them and help them in any way I can, so we will see in the future.”

Tough season in Formula E

Vergne currently combines his Ferrari commitments with a seat at the DS Virgin Formula E team, but admits his first full campaign in the all-electric series has been tougher than expected so far.

“I think the choice to go to DS was well-thought, as being with a French manufacturer is something important to me,” said the 25-year-old.

“It has been quite clearly more difficult [than season one], especially as I didn't score any points [in the first two races], so that's not where we wanted to be.”

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Crazy Kart Christmas carnage at Mercedes F1

School’s out! And seeing as the F1 paddock is in the festive spirit – particularly our friends in Milton Keynes – Headmaster Wolff and Engineering Master Costa have signed off in fitting fashion… at full opposite lock!

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Honda to continue with 'size zero' approach

McLaren-Honda will continue with its "size zero" approach to packaging its power unit next year.

Honda's return to Formula One this year has been marred by reliability issues as well as a significant gap in performance to its rivals. The Japanese company has taken an aggressive approach to its power unit design, with a tightly packaged layout aimed at minimising the size of the rear of the car. Although the design created problems for the team this year -- specifically with its turbo and MGU-H -- Honda is confident it can rectify those issues while maintaining the "size zero" philosophy that it believes will one day challenge for wins.

"We keep the philosophy and concept of the size zero package and we improve on it next year to have a more sophisticated size zero," Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai told F1i.com. "It's very difficult because we're almost at zero! But we use that particular design, a very specific and aggressive design, and we should keep that.

"We need more improvement but during this year I felt a big improvement on both sides, the engine and the chassis and aero. At every race we tried a lot of parts and we have a lot of data, and I hope that we can make a better package for next year."

Although the "size zero" philosophy remains intact, Arai said Honda will make changes to the layout of the engine over the winter to combat the problems it found this year.

"In the middle of the season in August we found out what our weak point was in a more concrete way. Even though we understood that our package's weakness came from the MGU-H and ERS deployment, it had been a struggle to pinpoint the cause. Fortunately, in August everything became clear and we were free to start fully rectifying the situation.

"It had a huge impact because with the discovery we realised that in the races and testing we need more energy to actually use the deployment. But in the meantime we feel we cannot change the turbo and the MGU-H in the actual season because it is a layout issue, so it is very difficult to change everything. So we realised it but could not change it."

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Jaguar enters Formula E. Just don't mention F1

If, as tentatively planned, the 2016/17 Formula E season opens in Montreal, that will suit Jaguar perfectly for their return to racing. I mention this, not for profound commercial reasons related to the important North American market, but because Montreal removed their trams some time ago.

The thought has been prompted by memories of Jaguar's trumpeted F1 debut in Australia. Part of the launch in 2000 included spraying a Melbourne tram in British Racing Green and carrying the slogan 'The Cat is Back'. It's an understatement to say the sight of this tram clanking along Flinders Street was hardly the cutting edge image of a blue chip motor manufacturer going racing in F1. At least they won't be tempted to do the same in Montreal.

That PR misjudgement in Victoria was no surprise to those of us who had witnessed the team's brash and triumphant media launch at Lord's cricket ground, followed by a black tie gala for the good and the great of motor racing, with a few B-class show business personalities thrown in.

Jaguar's owner, Ford, had bought Stewart Grand Prix. The scary optimism of the launch was charged by Stewart's only F1 win a few months before at the Nürburgring; a somewhat fortuitous but well-worked victory for Johnny Herbert in a dry-wet-dry race. There was the unspoken but unmistakeable belief that further wins would come, almost as a matter of course now that the hard part -- winning your first Grand Prix -- had been reached. Even the chairman of Jaguar Cars, Wolfgang Reitzle, seemed to think that third place in the Constructors' Championship would be within reach at the very least.

Jaguar came away from their first season with four points. Ferrari claimed 170. It was a painful indoctrination, exacerbated by the unrealistic and uninformed view of the Ford Motor Company in Michigan. It would end with similar embarrassment after five seasons and just two podiums.

Ford no longer own Jaguar, which is perhaps just as well, judging by the experience of Niki Lauda, brought in halfway through 2001 to liaise between Jaguar Racing, Cosworth Engineering (manufacturers of the team's V10 engine) and PI electronics (another Ford-owned company). It was a tenuous relationship to say the least, one that was brought to an abrupt halt even though the man with the axe, Richard Parry-Jones, admitted Lauda had done nothing wrong.

"There is nothing specific that he has done wrong. But he does not have the technical depth to put in place the kind of improvements we feel necessary," said Ford's vice-president of product development, a man with no depth of racing experience.

Being the pragmatist that he is, Lauda could cope with the sudden and unexpected parting of ways - providing the final year of his contract was honoured financially. That meant dealing with the bean counters at Ford in the USA. Even with Lauda's vast commercial knowledge of business in the diverse worlds of motor sport and international airlines, this experience would verge on the extraordinary, not to say comical. I'll hand you over to Lauda to tell the story in his inimitable style.

"When I started working there, the finance guy at Jaguar called me and said he had to give me this book. He called it the 'Ford Compliance Rules' and said it means whatever you do, it has to comply with what's in this book. I asked him for an example.

"He said: 'Okay. Let's say you are staying in a hotel and you take a mineral [sparkling] water from the mini bar, you have to pay for it. But if you take a still water, you don't have to pay for it.' I asked him if he was serious and when he said he was, I told him to keep the book. He said: 'Niki, you really need to take this. You don't want to make any mistakes.' I said I didn't want to know. I told him he would never have an invoice in his system from me because I will pay for my own expenses rather than have all this bullshit. So, that's what I did; everything like that was paid by my private credit card.

"When this thing was over with Jaguar and I was saying they needed to pay me for the next year, suddenly there were people rushing over from America, running into Jaguar and demanding to have the accounts for Niki Lauda. I said I had no accounts. 'What d'you mean? You must have expenses.' I said: 'There are no expenses.' 'But there must be!' They just could not believe it. Can you imagine? These people had come all that way, looking for this f------ mineral water! After six months fight, I got my money. And they found no mineral water."

That shouldn't be a problem this time round. Jaguar is now owned by Tata and the Indian conglomerate, among its 600,000 employees, has people in Tata Global Beverages making more mineral water than you can shake an expense account at.

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Almost that time of year to take my own sabbatical from F1

....almost

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RENAULT TAKEOVER OF LOTUS F1 TEAM NOW A DONE DEAL

Renault have completed their takeover of the Lotus Formula One team and paid debts to creditors including the British tax authorities, the London High Court heard on Monday.

“We have a completion of the share purchase,” a lawyer for the French car company told the judge, Mr Justice Birss, at a hearing that formally dismissed an insolvency petition that would have put the team into administration.

“We have the keys, so to speak,” he added.

The share purchase agreement (SPA) that made Renault the controlling shareholder had been due for completion on Dec. 16 but the court heard that the acquisition was finalised only late last Friday.

Jeremy Bamford, counsel for the revenue and customs (HMRC), confirmed payment had been received and cleared on Monday. Other petitioning creditors said they had also been paid in full.

Lawyers for Proton, the Malaysian car company that owns the Lotus sportscar brand, did not attend the hearing with the court informed that the petitioner had either been paid or reached an arrangement.

“The insolvency procedure has worked in the way intended,” Birss said in summing up, with the company saved and debts paid in full.

The case had been adjourned repeatedly to allow Renault time to decide their Formula One future and complete the takeover of a team that employs some 480 people at their factory in central England.

Renault, an engine supplier to former world champions Red Bull this season, are returning to Formula One as a full constructor by buying back the team they previously owned.

The team was sold by Renault to Luxembourg-based Genii Capital, who renamed it Lotus, after a Singapore Grand Prix race-fixing scandal that rocked the sport in 2009.

As Benetton and then Renault, the team had won world titles with Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso.

This season Genii injected only enough cash into Lotus to keep the team on the grid, while leaving a string of creditors waiting to be paid.

Bailiffs impounded the cars after the Belgian Grand Prix in August and the team were denied access to the paddock hospitality in Japan due to unpaid bills.

Genii Capital chairman and current Lotus principal Gerard Lopez told Reuters at the season-ending race in Abu Dhabi last month that he would retain a shareholding in the team.

The team have Venezuelan Pastor Maldonado and Britain’s Jolyon Palmer as drivers signed for 2016.

Statement:

Groupe Renault completes the acquisition of Lotus F1 Team

Monday 21st December

On Friday 18 December 2015, Groupe Renault and Gravity Motorsport S.a.rl, an affiliate of Genii Capital SA, formally and successfully completed the acquisition by Groupe Renault of a controlling shareholding of Lotus F1 Team Limited.

The new team name, full management structure, team partners and other details will be announced during an event to be held in Paris in February.

In the interim, a new board of directors has been appointed, with Jérôme Stoll as Chairman and Cyril Abiteboul as Managing Director.

Following the signing of a letter of intent by Groupe Renault and Gravity Motorsport S.a.rl on 28 September 2015, the parties entered into the various agreements on 3 December 2015.

Since then, all parties involved have been working relentlessly to comply with all of the contractual and legal obligations under the agreements to enable the transaction to successfully complete.

The technical teams are making good progress to have the 2016 car ready for testing in Barcelona at the end of February.

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VERSTAPPEN HAS BEEN GOOD FOR SAINZ CLAIMS ALONSO

Teenage sensation Max Verstappen’s success helped Carlos Sainz to also show his worth during he pair’s rookie season in Formula 1.

That is the view of Sainz’s friend, mentor and countryman Fernando Alonso, referring to the impressive F1 debuts this year of the Toro Rosso duo.

Although it was 17-year-old Dutchman Verstappen who got the most headlines and awards, Alonso had predicted before the season that Sainz was actually the best-prepared rookie.

“Yes, I still think the same,” Alonso told AS sports newspaper. “Of all the young drivers who have climbed the categories in the past years, Carlos was the best in my opinion.”

Verstappen, however, case shade over Sainz’s season, but Alonso thinks sharing the Toro Rosso team with the young Dutch sensation is a good thing, “Having someone like that next to you is good.”

“Sometimes you have a teammate who is neither good nor bad and it means what you not really get noticed yourself. With Max that is not the case and I think Carlos was able to show a great year and gain the respect of everyone,” Alonso said.

As for whether 21-year-old Sainz can be world champion one day, Alonso answered: “Whether or not this happens depends on a number of factors.

“One of them is luck, and hopefully he has it in the future, but at least he has had a good start. I really hope it goes well for him because he deserves it,” the McLaren-Honda driver added.

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NEWEY: ONLY MERCEDES AND FERRARI CAN WIN THE F1 TITLE

Before a single Formula 1 wheel turns in 2016, Adrian Newey says only Mercedes and Ferrari are in a position to win the world championship, but does provide suggestions for the rules

Arguably one of the best and most famous Formula 1 designer of all time, the 56-year-old Briton has taken a step back at Red Bull.

Newey does not hide his frustrations with the sport at present and told Asian Age, “What’s now unhealthy about Formula 1 is that it is dominated by engines.”

“The chassis regulations are very tight, but the engine rules have scope for experiment. We are in a situation where only Mercedes and Ferrari are strong enough to win championships. And they eventually control the sport. I hope the FIA takes control of the situation,” Newey added.

Indeed, some are predicting that Newey’s interest in F1 could be re-fired for 2017 and 2018, when drastically different chassis and engine rules are touted to be introduced.

“I have always enjoyed rule changes,” he admitted. “It gives you a fresh opportunity to experiment. The actual physical engine has to be the same [in the future].”

“The second one could be to increase the number of manufacturers competing in the championship. The other thing the FIA can bring in is that they can have a standard FIA engine, which will be competitive for all teams,” ventured Newey.

Earlier this year Newey said of the current era F1, “The chassis regulations have become over-restricted, and the problem for us is that the cars all look the same, and it’s difficult to differentiate from my point of view as designer. (It’s) difficult to find new avenues. I do feel we have become over-restricted.”

Newey designed cars have won ten Formula 1 world championships for Williams, McLaren and most recently Red Bull.

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BERNIE HAS HAMILTON APOLOGISING IN HIS XMAS CARD

Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone has drawn his 2015 to a close with his traditional Christmas card to friends.

This year’s edition of the F1 supremo’s always humorous summary of the season shows the Mercedes car of an apologetic Lewis Hamilton piled high with gifts as the world champion declares: “Sorry for the early delivery!”

A cap-hurling Nico Rosberg, meanwhile, stands nearby and adds: “I tried to make up for it!”

But an even cheekier card has been distributed by Red Bull, the former quadruple world champions who this year were denied a switch to Mercedes power.

It depicts Toto Wolff being run over by a leg-powered Flinstones car driven by Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, as the caption reads: “Bernie took pity on Red Bull and offered up a car from his personal collection.”

Ecclestone has also appeared in comments made by the promoter of F1’s new grand prix for 2016 in Azerbaijan.

“Very few people in the world are as experienced in negotiations,” Arif Rahimov told Russia’s Championat.

“You know that his (Ecclestone’s) every word, his every movement has a great meaning, but after we signed the contract, Bernie began to actively help us even in the areas in which we did not agree,” he added.

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CHANNEL 4 TAKING OVER F1 RIGHTS FROM BBC

Britain’s Channel 4 reported on Monday it would broadcast 10 live Formula One races a season from 2016 to 2018, taking over the rights from the BBC to show a sport that commands loyal audiences following title holder Lewis Hamilton.

The Formula One World Championship had been previously carried by the BBC and pay-TV group Sky in a joint deal but media reports suggested last week that the BBC was looking to pull out of the contract due to cuts to its budget.

That had sparked speculation that ITV, the country’s biggest free-to-air commercial broadcaster, would scoop the rights, but instead they went to Channel 4, a network that is publicly owned and funded by advertising.

It will broadcast 10 live races, including practice and qualifying sessions, plus highlights of all 21 Grands Prix. It will not show commercial intervals during the race.

Details of the deal were not disclosed.

“Formula One is one of the world’s biggest sporting events with huge appeal to British audiences,” Channel 4 Chief Executive David Abraham said.

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FREE-TO-AIR TV SPORT ERA HAS COME TO AN END SAYS MURRAY WALKER

The BBC’s expected exit from Formula 1 could also signal the inevitable end for free-to-air television coverage of sports in general.

That is the view of Murray Walker, the legendary British commentator who spent years commenting not only for the BBC, but also for the public broadcaster’s eventual free-to-air successor ITV.

ITV is now tipped to step up once again amid budget cuts at the BBC, although 92-year-old Walker was quoted by the Times as insisting he has no inside information about that.

“I have not heard anything,” he said, “but I think it is the way it is going.

“If ITV are taking over then I am sure it will be just as good, and I hope they keep the same people, but my own view is that all sport will soon be pay-to-view,” Walker added.

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KARTHIKEYAN DOUBTS INDIA WILL RETURN TO F1 CALENDAR

Narain Karthikeyan, who was India’s first F1 driver, does not think the sport will be returning to his native country.

New Delhi hosted three grands prix between 2011 and 2013, until bureaucratic and financial reasons drew the event to a halt.

“I don’t think the Indian GP will ever happen again,” Karthikeyan, who drove for Jordan in 2005 and HRT in 2011-2012, told the Times of India.

“The formula one promoters are also not showing any interest. The government has to show interest in hosting F1,” he said.

“Without the support from the government, it is impossible. There are only two or three (races) where the government is not involved and India is one of them.”

Karthikeyan said the race ran into financial problems, but that local popularity was also a problem because “spectators didn’t turn up”.

“Delhi was a good choice. F1 is a glamorous sport and Delhi has the right kind of clientele. But it just didn’t click,” he explained.

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HARYANTO SEEKS $16 MILLION FROM GOVERNMENT FOR MANOR RACE SEAT

Indonesian Rio Haryanto needs to raise $16 million to realise his dream of racing in Formula 1 with the Manor Marussia team next season, the Jakarta Post reported this past weekend.

The newspaper said Youth and Sports Minister Imam Nahrawi was lobbying businesses and state-owned enterprises to garner support for the 22-year-old, who tested for Marussia in Abu Dhabi this month.

It added that while Haryanto can count on some 5 million euros from sponsors Pertamina, the state-owned Indonesian oil and gas company, he had less than three weeks to raise the remainder.

“I need to find a perfect formula for Rio’s financial support to meet Manor team’s requirement,” Nahrawi was quoted as saying in a statement after meeting State-owned Enterprises minister Rini Soemarno.

Nahrawi had issued a statement earlier in the month stating that his ministry would guarantee the money in return for branding to promote Indonesia and associated companies.

Tail-enders Manor, who finished the 2015 season last and without a point, are the only team yet to announce any drivers for 2016.

They had Briton Will Stevens, Spaniard Roberto Merhi and American Alex Rossi driving for them this year. The team is due to switch from Ferrari power units to Mercedes next season.

Haryanto finished fourth in the GP2 support series this year, with three race wins.

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Lewis Hamilton 2015 F1 Season Review

It has been an amazing year for the now three-time Formula One World Champion, Lewis Hamilton. Find out what he has to say about it all!

Thanks to the BBC for supplying this footage.

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FORMULA 1 CARS WERE UP TO 1.5 SECONDS QUICKER IN 2015

Formula 1 cars were about half a second per lap faster this year compared to the start of the new v6 turbo power unit era in 2014, but at some venues were over 1.5 seconds better.

That is the finding of Auto Motor und sport, having analysed the qualifying and race laptimes of 2014 and 2015.

The rules, it found, were fairly stable from season to season, even though there were changes to noses, Pirelli’s rear tyre construction and a slightly higher car minimum weight.

Nonetheless, qualifying laptimes were reportedly 0.519 seconds faster on average in 2015 compared to last year.

The biggest laptime leap – 1.696 seconds – was in Singapore, but a chicane had been tweaked. Conversely, in Brazil, laptimes were 1.259 slower due to the installation of much more aggressive kerbs.

As for the fastest laps in the actual grands prix, the German analysis found that F1 in 2015 was on average 0.350 per lap faster than in 2014.

The biggest leap – 1.533 seconds – was seen in Melbourne, followed by Montreal and Monza, while Shanghai, Spa, Interlagos and Abu Dhabi were actually slower.

Meanwhile, as the new ‘power units’ were developed between 2014 and 2015, top speeds increased at 13 of the 18 races that were analysed by Auto Motor und Sport.

In Australia and Russia, the increase was measured at 11kph compared to 2014.

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Renault was 'very close' to F1 pull-out - Prost

Alain Prost has revealed that Renault was 'very, very close' to a Formula 1 pull-out last month, before CEO Carlos Ghosn could finally be convinced about the benefits of staying in the sport.

Renault has been evaluating its grand prix plans for several months now but, despite having been pushing for a deal to takeover Lotus, the talks dragged on until the end of the season.

Mounting concerns about the budget requirements, and dissatisfaction about commercial rights terms on offer from Bernie Ecclestone, meant there even was a short period when it appeared a deal would not get the go ahead.

Prost, who has close links with Renault and has been heavily involved in discussions about its F1 future, says that on the eve of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the situation did not look good.

"In Abu Dhabi a few days ahead of the weekend, it was almost a no go," Prost told Motorsport.com in an exclusive interview about whether there were fears Ghosn would pull the plug.

"Only Carlos Ghosn made the decision. He had to make it himself, but yes, it [a pull-out] was very, very close.

"I haven't talked to him in the last weeks. He knew what to do, and he had to decide himself."

Difficult decision

Prost said that Renault's F1 management had to work hard to try to put together a package that would get approval from Ghosn.

But despite the time it took for a decision to be made, Prost believes the positive outcome is a sign of how committed the French car manufacturer now is.

"It was difficult, for sure," he said. "It was a long decision because of what happened you know, the relationship with Red Bull and the fight that being only a supplier was not the right choice for the future.

"So it was quite a big commitment. You need to understand that they had to take their time to decide what to do. We all know in this company maybe it takes time, but when they are committed it is going to be okay."

Long road back

Ghosn has already talked of it taking up a three years before Renault is fully competitive again in F1. It is a time-scale that Prost agrees with.

"It will take a lot of time to be competitive again," he said. "He (Ghosn) was talking about three years and I think that is the minimum. It is going to be very hard.

"But my philosophy is that it is a new project, it's a new story and what is important is that we are going to start in a very difficult environment. The deal has been signed a few hours ago. So the first year it is going to be difficult.

"But what is more important is to build a strategy and to build the story for the future, and to make a progression. That is the most important.

"You don't need to win next year, it is a long project."

Team role

Prost has been linked with taking some sort of position within the new Renault F1 operation, but says no decision has yet been made.

Ghosn has already said that an announcement of its plans for management and drivers will be made in the New Year.

"I'm waiting for January," said Prost. "Then we will see what is the organisation and if I can be a part of it or not.

"I'm very open. We are still talking, we are very open. But we need to have a clear picture."

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F1 UPGRADES TO KEEP SEPANG SHUT FOR THREE MONTHS

Sepang International Circuit, venue of the Malaysian Grand Prix, will be closed for three months for repairs ahead of the 2016 race.

Usually, Malaysia hosts an early round of the world championship, but next year the race will not be until October.

Sepang has now announced that it will be closed between February and May for “resurfacing and upgrading works”.

It is “a mandatory requirement in ensuring that the Sepang track will continue to be homologated in the FIA and (MotoGP’s) FIM as a Grade 1 and Grade A circuit respectively”, it said in a statement.

Among the repairs will be improvements to drainage, kerbs, run-off and gravel beds, the circuit added.

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RAIKKONEN UNHAPPY WITH TOO SHORT WINTER BREAK

Formula 1 veteran Kimi Raikkonen has criticised the ever shorter off-season winter break.

With the 2015 championship concluding with a post-race test, a record 21 races on the 2016 schedule and Pirelli testing to resume in January, the Ferrari driver said: “In my opinion, this is a bit ridiculous.

“The break should have been longer, but it seems to get shorter all the time,” Raikkonen is quoted by the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat.

“Like any other people who work all year, we all also like to relax so my vacation will last about a month,” Raikkonen, 36, added.

Official testing does not resume until late February next year, but Pirelli has been given permission to test tyres at the end of January.

Raikkonen said: “I don’t think I’ll do the January tests. I think only the old cars will be used there anyway.”

As for the unprecedentedly-long 21-race calendar for next year, he explained: “Of course, when you spent a lot of time on the road it’s a bit tiring but I don’t think that’s too much of a problem.”

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MAGAZINE STANDS BY REPORT ON SCHUMACHER’S HEALTH

Michael Schumacher’s manager has rejected the latest media report about the rumoured health condition of the Formula 1 legend.

Bunte has reported in its latest edition that while the seven time world champion is very thin, he can now take a few steps with the help of a therapist. And the report suggested that Schumacher, 46, is also now able to lift an arm.

When asked about this apparent progress, the former Ferrari and Mercedes driver’s manager Sabine Kehm said: “Unfortunately, a recent press report forces us to make clear that these assertions about Michael do not correspond to the facts.

“This speculation is irresponsible,” she told Bild newspaper, “because given the severity of his injuries, the protection of his privacy is very important to Michael.”

When confronted with Kehm’s denial, a spokesman for Bunte said the magazine stands by its information.

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JORDAN SLAMS BBC FOR TIMING OF F1 COVERAGE AXE

Former Formula 1 team owner turned TV pundit Eddie Jordan has slammed the BBC for the manner of its departure from the sport.

The British public broadcaster, for whom Jordan was a controversial and forthright on-screen pundit, announced on Monday that it is terminating its deal for budget reasons.

“The week of Christmas is not the time to hear this,” Jordan said, “compounded by the fact that it’s not long since a lot of the team had left London and relocated in Salford at the whim of the BBC.

“People have moved families to new houses and children to new schools and were just about getting settled in Salford and then they get this bomb-shell,” he is quoted by the Mirror newspaper.

However, his concerns about BBC staff aside, 67-year-old Jordan indicated that he is interested in remaining in the paddock.

Channel 4 is taking over the BBC’s free-to-air role in sharing the British F1 rights with pay-channel Sky.

“I really feel for them (BBC staff),” said Jordan. “Having said that, the BBC has given me an amazing seven years and I’ve got the TV bug.

“While I’m in the twilight of my career I wouldn’t rule out anything for the future if it gives me a buzz.”

The Mirror said Jordan’s BBC colleague, former McLaren driver David Coulthard, is tipped to front Channel 4’s 2016 coverage.