FORMULA 1 - 2015

[MIKA27]

ALONSO AND RAIKKONEN SLAM MONACO STEWARDS

Two champions – Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen – left Monaco on Sunday admitting their displeasure with the FIA stewards.

McLaren’s Alonso said he was unhappy for being given a five-second timed penalty for his collision with Nico Hulkenberg.

The clash ended Hulkenberg’s race, but the Force India driver said: “For me, it’s racing. That’s just first-lap fighting, especially in Monaco.”

Indeed, Alonso also told Spanish reporters the penalty, taken by the FIA stewards including Le Mans legend Tom Kristensen, was “stupid”.

“We know in Monaco it (crashes) can sometimes happen but what we see (from the stewards) can be random. For sure it was a very strange penalty.”

Also clashing on Sunday was Daniel Ricciardo, who admitted Raikkonen was “very polite” to have denounced the crash on the radio as merely “not very nice”.

“I think they’ve edited that or something,” grinned the Australian. “I saw there was half a gap, and I think the stewards understand that Monaco is a bit like that — to make a move sometimes you have to have a bit of contact.”

Indeed, while Raikkonen was frustrated with the Red Bull driver, he was arguably more unhappy that the stewards were not consistent, having penalised Alonso but not Ricciardo.

“The rules keep changing,” the Ferrari driver is quoted by La Gazzetta dello Sport, “depending on what’s going on and who does what.”

“Sometimes there is a penalty, other times there is not, so it’s not very clear what you can and cannot do,” Raikkonen added.

[MIKA27]

Mika urges Lewis to come back stronger

Mika Hakkinen, a man who knows a thing or two about suffering setbacks in F1, has urged Lewis Hamilton to use his Monaco heartbreak as motivation.

Hamilton was on course for his second race win in the Principality on Sunday, but a poor call from the pitwall saw him finish third behind Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg and Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

The deployment of the Safety Car following Max Verstappen's crash prompted the Merc bosses to pit their lead driver for fresher tyres, but Rosberg and Vettel opted to stay out.

With overtaking opportunities limited on the narrow street circuit, it meant Hamilton finished behind Rosberg and Vettel.

Hakkinen, who was suffered bitter blows during his F1 career including an engine failure on the last lap while in the lead in Spain in 2001, urged the two-time World Champion to come back "stronger and better" in Canada, where he will once again start the race as favourite.

"'I'm going to win the next one'. That will be his motivation. You cannot just start getting depressed about it," the Finn told Reuters.

"You have to learn and analyse everything that has happened, and get stronger and better."

Rosberg's victory in Monaco helped him to reduce Hamilton's lead in the Drivers' Championship to 10 points, but the Brit is still odds-on to win the title.

Hakkinen added: "All these things that happen in motor racing or in life, they make you stronger because you learn from those things. It's just very hard in the position you are sitting, in the racing car, when everyone is staring at you.

"Millions of fans looking at it and asking why? It's hard to be a driver sitting there and have to answer these questions.

"But you have to go on, you have to go flat out. You have to build up your confidence inside more and challenge the next grand prix. There's a long way to go in the season. And Monaco is an example that anything can happen."

[MIKA27]

Smedley: Was always going to be tough

Rob Smedley admits Williams were "nowhere near" where they should have been in the Monaco GP, their first 2015 race outside the points.

Both Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa struggled for pace throughout the grand prix weekend, not necessarily surprising given that Williams have only achieved three Monte Carlo wins.

Neither Bottas nor Masas made it into Q3 on Saturday while they finished a disappointing P14 and P15 respectively on Sunday.

"It was quite a difficult weekend and we were nowhere near where we should be," Smedley conceded.

"At Monaco, if qualifying doesn't go well you have partly made your bed so we knew getting points was going to be tough.

"We have to look at all areas to see what went wrong here with the inherent car performance and set-up. We cannot return here in 2016 and repeat this performance."

However, the team's Head of Vehicle Performance is confident Williams can fight back at the next races, starting with the Canadian GP.

He added: "We now have to focus firmly on the next three races. We have a really good package and some healthy upgrades coming soon so we look forward to coming back stronger in Canada."

[MIKA27]

Arrivabene: 'Raikkonen must improve his qualifying'

Kimi Raikkonen has some homework to do before the next race in Canada according to Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene.

The Italian has urged the Finn to up his game on a Saturday following some poor qualifying performances which have them hampered his race, wasting his good Sunday pace.

Raikkonen's best qualifying performance this season was fourth in Bahrain, but his average starting position has been seventh. Team-mate Sebastian Vettel's average is just 3rd which includes two front-row starts.

Therefore Arrivabene has told Raikkonen to up his game so he can make the most of his race pace which is more often than not as quick as Vettel's.

"The problem with Kimi [in Monaco] was qualifying," explained the 58-year-old. "If I have to give him some homework then he has to write 100 times 'I have to be better in qualifying'.

"During the race you saw, at a certain part of the race, he had the same pace as Sebastian.

"So if he improves in qualifying then he will have no problems in a race because Kimi in a race is super and he can do a good job."

However Arrivabene recognises the fact that Ferrari must up its game on Saturday as well, to give both Raikkonen and Vettel a chance at starting on pole at future races.

"Mercedes are very quick in qualifying, and this is an indication for us on where to focus our attention for the future to work," he added.

"If you are going to start in a good position on the grid then the race is going to be easier.

"When you have air in front of you, and not other competitors, it's good for you and the tyres because with someone in front of you the consumption of the tyres goes down very fast. So for us it's something we have to work on."

[MIKA27]

Honda: We still need more power

Honda has admitted that it still needs to make more power gains if it is to build on its first points of the season with McLaren in the Monaco Grand Prix.

After a difficult start to the campaign, Jenson Button showed that progress was being made when he grabbed eighth place around the streets of Monte Carlo.

Honda F1 chief Yasuhisa Arai welcomed the points – which he said felt like the proper start of his company's F1 return – but was well aware that the Monaco pace was helped by improved driveability on a track where power is not so vital.

"We found some suitable driveability for the special Monaco race track because horsepower is not so important here," he said.

"[it is not about performance with] wide open throttle, it is using partial throttle so is a very sensitive area.

"We made good driveability for Jenson and Fernando [Alonso], and they had a good feeling. Jenson got a good place for us, so I am very happy."

Power tracks coming

Honda knows that the next events in Canada and Austria will put more of a premium on horsepower, where the Japanese manufacturer is lacking.

However, it is reluctant to use any of its remaining engine development tokens just yet because it prefers to hold on to them until later in the campaign.

"Canada is a power circuit, so we need more power," he said. "But it is also a heavy stopping circuit, so braking and energy recovery is very important.

"I know that we need more power, but it is not so easy to get that. So it is how to deliver the MGU-K power for that kind of high-speed circuit – we will think about it after this race."

When asked about when tokens would be deployed, Arai said: "We don't have any plan yet – we don't decide when we use the tokens.

"It depends on our strategy. We will discuss with McLaren and decide which race."

[MIKA27]

Rosberg: I won't change for Ecclestone

Nico Rosberg says he is not surprised Formula 1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone thinks he is 'bad for business', but insists he will not change.

Ecclestone caused a stir on the morning of the Monaco Grand Prix when he suggested that Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel were not good for F1 because they were not popular with fans.

"From a pure business aspect - sorry Nico if I have to say this - you are not so good for my business," Ecclestone said in an interview with the official Formula 1 website.

Hamilton more showbiz

Rosberg readily accepts that Ecclestone prefers a more high-profile driver like Lewis Hamilton, but thinks that there is no need for him to become more outgoing.

"None of that surprises me because he has been very open about that all the time, criticising anybody who is not as out there in the world like Lewis is and his manner," said Rosberg.

"The more you are out there, the better it is because you create more tension. That is obvious.

"He [Ecclestone] is the commercial rights holder, so what does he want? He wants a movement out there. And Lewis does a lot of that in his own way. I am a bit more reserved in that sense.

"So it is not something that surprises me. I understand his opinion, everybody does, it is pretty obvious.

"It is a straightforward thing but at the same time I care for the sport, I do think about it and I try to give a lot back to it in my own way."

Arrivabene: take my pass away then

Rosberg and Vettel were not the only ones who came in for criticism from Ecclestone.

When asked if Ferrari team principal Maurizio Arrivabene's character was good, Ecclestone said: "Only for himself and not for Formula 1."

Asked to respond to Ecclestone's comments, Arrivabene said that if the sport's commercial boss was so unhappy with him then he should remove his access to the paddock.

"I didn't hear anything about this, so he can take my [F1 paddock] pass tomorrow morning," said Arrivabene.

"If he doesn't like that, then fine. What can I do? I am not going to change because he is asking me to change."

[MIKA27]

Max Verstappen penalised but blames 'dangerous' Romain Grosjean for crash

Max Verstappen blamed Romain Grosjean for the collision which sent him into the wall at Sainte Devote and triggered Monaco's race-changing safety car period.

Verstappen was chasing Grosjean down for tenth place late in the race but ended up colliding with the Lotus, which briefly propelled him into the air before he landed in the barriers. After the race the 17-year-old was slapped with a five-place grid penalty for the Canadian Grand Prix and two points on his superlicence, but he insisted he was not even trying to pass the Frenchman when the crash occured.

"It was not even a move," Verstappen explained. "The lap before I braked on exactly the same spot but clearly in the lap we crashed, he braked 10 to 15 metres earlier, and if you are that close to each other and going to 80 from 290 there is no room and you can't go anywhere. I really tried to avoid it and maybe it looked like an overtake but he braked way earlier than the lap before, normally the whole race you are braking within five metres."

Verstappen was asked if he thought Grosjean was "brake-testing" him, to which he replied: "Kind of, he was for sure braking 10 to 15 metres earlier ... It's very dangerous and for sure it will be a bit sore tomorrow."

The rookie said he only realised he was going to make contact when it was too late.

"On the moment he braked but then you are too late, because you don't expect someone to brake that early. You have no room to go anywhere."

[MIKA27]

HOW WILL MERCEDES MAKE IT UP TO HAMILTON FOR LOST MONACO VICTORY?

It is hard not to feel sorry for Lewis Hamilton, who saw victory in the Monaco Grand Prix slip away from him due to a bad decision to pit for news tyres behind the safety car with 12 laps to go.

Speaking after the race, both team bosses Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda said that the team had let their newly re-signed driver down, but how do they now seek to make it up to him?

On the plane home last night from Nice, all the Mercedes engineers were travelling together, as usual, and you would be hard pressed to guess which side of the garage had lost and which side had won; the very public error they made clearly weighed heavy on a team that has been together many years and they live in each other’s pockets, so they literally do ‘win together and lose together’.

It’s for this reason, primarily, that any talk of Mercedes deliberately sabotaging Hamilton’s race to allow Rosberg to win falls apart. The entire engineering group, which moves about like a team of footballers, eating together, debriefing together, sitting together every day in their office at Brackley, would all have to be in on it and it just doesn’t work like that.

It highlights the curious dynamic in this sport, with two sportsmen in the same team competing against each other, that they had lost the race, but they also won the race and extended their lead in the constructor’s championship.

Hamilton was part of the decision making process, as he confirmed after the race, telling the team that the soft tyres were losing temperature and pressure behind the safety car and if there was sufficient gap to easily pit and rejoin on new, warm supersofts for the final 12 laps, it would make sense. The team was protecting itself from a possible move by Ferrari to pit Vettel onto supersofts and then have him attack them at the restart, when he would have been right behind on faster tyres.

The top line is that there was a transition from Virtual Safety Car to Safety car; at the end of Sector 1 of the lap on which he pitted, Hamilton had a lead over Rosberg of 26.802 seconds, more than enough to pit with a comfortable margin. A pit stop at racing speeds takes 24 seconds at Monaco and at Safety Car speeds you only need a gap of around 17s to make the stop and retain position.

What happened was that Hamilton’s Sector 2 time was slower than he or the team expected; he took 53.240 secs to complete that sector, while Rosberg took just 44.5 secs. The gap came down from 26 seconds to just 18.

Hamilton lost time behind the Safety Car, in other words, when it picked him up. He then lost another 1.5secs in the pit lane, that’s how much slower his stop was than his first stop (which had been the fastest of the day). Nasr went past in the Sauber just as he was due to be released, which added a little to the end of the stop.

So he came out behind Rosberg and Vettel.

As soon as that happened, everyone realised that the move had been a mistake, but as Toto Wolff says, the calculations didn’t keep up with the eventualities. Alarm bells should have gone off when Hamilton came through the Sector 2 beam and the gap had been reduced to 18 seconds – this made it a risky move to pit Hamilton. There was little time to think; Sector 3 takes 28 secs to complete across the finish line at Safety Car speeds and so they would have up to 20 seconds before he would need to enter the pits.

Wolff says that the decision to pit was taken, “just 50m before the pit entry”, in other words, mindful of the reduced gap. It was risky.

Add in the fact that once again Mercedes’ pit stop execution wasn’t optimum on Hamilton’s car; the same happened with his ‘undercut’ attempt at the first stop in Spain. It’s fine margins, but as Niki Lauda says, Mercedes should be professional enough to cope with the changing picture and the risks outweighed the potential upside in this situation, “A top team should not make mistakes like this. It was the wrong decision to bring him in and I’m upset about this,” he said. “There was no risk to leave him out and I’m really disappointed. We are professionals and they should be able to switch from one (Virtual Safety Car) to another (Safety Car).”

Hamilton’s pain is obvious and he’s entitled to ask, ‘Why do these things happen to me?’ Most fair minded people would feel sympathy for him; he’s the driver who had done everything over two days of qualifying and racing to win the Monaco Grand Prix and he deserved it. He was part of a decision making process, but he has to leave the final decision to the team as they have all the data and the timings at their disposal which he does not.

He took it on the chin after the race in his statements, because he has just signed a new three year contract, one of the biggest in the history of F1 and it’s not a time to set himself up in conflict with the team, which had let him down. They have made it up to him in the past; when Rosberg crashed into him at Spa last year they read the riot act to the German and there was clearly some kind of ‘reckoning’, even if it was just an idea, a gesture, which Hamilton took advantage of to go on a winning streak for the rest of the season.

There is always a question of ‘trust’ in sports teams, especially ones where the two drivers are in competition with each other within the same team. Nothing is perfect in racing, so absolute trust is hard and his trust of their decision making will have been affected, but if he is to win consistently over the next there years – as he has over the last two – it will be because of their correct decision making on many of those occasions, as much as his brilliance behind the wheel.

That is probably all they can offer him by way of consolation this time, but the pain of losing a race in such a way will take time to get over, for driver and team.

[Bartolomeo]

Pardon my French but Hamilton got ****ed by poor team decision.....

Monaco always one of my favs but just felt bad for Lewis

JPM winning Indy was fantastic, great weekend all around!

Bart

[Lotusguy]

I was to see the oh so mighty Mercedes team commit such a blunder. Sorry for Lewis but I loved the look on Lauda's face.

[MIKA27]

Ferrari rules out using engine tokens for Canada

The Ferrari Formula 1 team has now decided against using any of its engine development tokens for the Canadian Grand Prix, despite the potential such upgrades could have.

The Maranello outfit has closed the gap to Mercedes in power terms this year, but still needs a further step forward if it is to regularly beat the reigning champions.

It had been considering using some of the 10 development tokens it has left for more power, but now thinks it is better off waiting until nearer the end of the campaign to ensure it maximises what it can change.

When asked in his Italian media session at the Monaco Grand Prix about the plan for engine tokens, team principal Maurizio Arrivabene said: “In Canada we will not use the tokens.

“But do not ask me when we will do it, because I do not want to give the information to the Germans [Mercedes]. I want a bit of [italian] nationalism...”

Qualifying form key focus

Sebastian Vettel's strong race pace in the Monaco GP suggested that the team remained a threat to Mercedes on Sundays – even if it knows it needs to do better in qualifying.

Arrivabene said the team needs now to work out what it can do to improve single lap pace.

“Mercedes since the beginning of last year were very, very quick in qualifying,” he said. “They are very strong and this is an indication for us of what we have to focus our attention on the future.

“If you are going to start from a good position on the grid then the race is going to be easier, because when you have air in front of you and not another competitor it is good for you, good for tyres.

“You know if you get close to another competitor then the consumption of tyres goes very fast, so it is something we have to work on.”

[joeskow]

Was in Monaco last year for the race and it is truely an awesome sight..

Somewhat feel for Lewis but I understand where Mercedes was coming from on their decision to bring Lewis in..

I just love the fact that Ferrari's pressure is forcing Mercedes to make errors although there was not much pressure if Verstappen doesn't hit Grosjean..

[MIKA27]

Was in Monaco last year for the race and it is truely an awesome sight..

Somewhat feel for Lewis but I understand where Mercedes was coming from on their decision to bring Lewis in..

I just love the fact that Ferrari's pressure is forcing Mercedes to make errors although there was not much pressure if Verstappen doesn't hit Grosjean..

Monaco is on my bucket list for sure. Not so great to watch on TV but to be there, would be amazing.

[MIKA27]

TODT: FORMULA 1 IS IN GOOD SHAPE

FIA president Jean Todt has denied the need to radically shake up Formula 1 and once again questioned if the sport was really in a crisis.

The overwhelming message from the F1 paddock in recent weeks has been that of a self-made ‘crisis’, as Mercedes dominates, audiences decline and small teams risk collapse.

Todt, a low-profile figure since taking over from the more confrontational Max Mosley, admitted not everything is perfect in Formula 1, but denied that it was in crisis and actually believes it is actually in good shape.

“My task is to look at the situation more widely,” the Frenchman is quoted by Nice Matin newspaper. “Formula 1 is still the pinnacle of motor sport, although of course there is always something to correct.”

“Unfortunately, the people who work in Formula 1 do not always carry a positive message, and the costs in the championship are also too great,” admitted Todt.

As for the spiraling costs, however, the former Ferrari boss said it is not an easy topic, “It is difficult, because it is very difficult to negotiate.

“The obvious problem is the distribution of income to the teams, but the FIA does not intervene. At first, everyone endorsed the proposed system, and now some argue about it.

“I support the new regulations for the engines, but at the same time I think they are too expensive. It is essential that the suppliers of engines understand this and offer a more affordable price.”

“It is a range of issues that we are working on. I hope that we will find solutions and be able to implement them,” Todt added.

He also rejected the argument that F1 technology is now too complex, making the cars easy to drive.

“Actually, I think it is not so easy,” Todt insisted. “We have always said that it is necessary to emphasise the link between race and road cars.”

“We cannot go back to manual gearboxes now, when everyone else is using on-board computers! Formula one is a laboratory for the development of new technologies,” he said. “I believe that, in general, Formula 1 is in good shape. Perhaps we are not talking enough about that.”

Todt also told the French broadcaster Canal Plus that it is “impossible to deny” that F1’s shift to more pay-TV coverage has affected the sport’s global audience.

“There are problems of this type that are necessary to address,” he said.

But he also thinks Mercedes’ dominance does not necessarily mean the rules need to be substantially changed, “At Rolland Garros (tennis’ French Open), of the last 10 competitions, nine were won by Rafael Nadal — does this mean that it is necessary to change the rules?”

“No, it is simply necessarily to try to be better than him. It is similar in Formula 1,” said Todt.

[MIKA27]

RED BULL: WE SORTED THE CHASSIS NOTHING TO DO WITH RENAULT

Red Bull is not expecting to burst back into podium contention after a stronger Monaco Grand Prix weekend, as they claim full the credit for the surge in performance and deliver another backhanded criticism of their engine supplier Renault.

Just behind the top three in Monte Carlo was the Red Bull duo of Daniil Kvyat and Daniel Ricciardo – a clear step forward for the former champions after a bad start to the season.

“I think we’re back in the right direction,” said engine supplier Renault’s Thierry Salvi on Sunday.

Renault F1 chief Cyril Abiteboul also heaved a sigh of relief and told Kleine Zeitung, “It was not so easy to keep everyone in line with all this criticism. Now we will keep our foot on the gas until we are where we want to be.”

However, Red Bull was not willing to give much of the credit to its engine supplier after Monaco.

“What we saw was that Red Bull has sorted out our problems with the chassis,” said outspoken team official Helmut Marko. “This has nothing to do with Renault.”

Team boss Christian Horner agreed that, despite the good showing on the twisty streets of Monaco, the power factor will resume its big role at forthcoming races.

And when asked by Marca if he expected the good form to carry on, Horner replied, “Unfortunately not. With the rules as they are, the engine is so important to the performance of the car that you cannot compensate only with aerodynamics.”

“We hope to have a good performance in the coming races, but at the end of the day you can’t replace horse power,” added the Red Bull team boss.

[MIKA27]

NICO: LEWIS WILL COME BACK EVEN STRONGER

Nico Rosberg admits he needs to up his game in order to beat his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton to the 2015 Formula 1 world championship title.

The German was ecstatic on Sunday after winning a third consecutive Monaco grand prix, and it was also his first ever back-to-back win in his long career.

On the fact of it, Rosberg is right back in the game following his early-season slump; psychologically buoyant and now just ten points behind the championship lead. But in his column for Bild, Rosberg also called Sunday the “luckiest day” of his decade in formula one.

Beaten to the pole on Saturday, he only inherited the win late in the day after Mercedes badly bungled Hamilton’s pit strategy.

Rosberg admits: “Lewis was faster than me on every day of the weekend. So for him it must have been a horrible feeling” to lose because of a team error.”

“You do everything right all weekend,” the 29-year-old added, referring to Hamilton, “and then in one second your victory is gone.

“I had the same problem last year in Budapest. I was leading by ten seconds, the safety car came out at the wrong time and suddenly I was fifth. This is pure horror,” said Rosberg.

So he said he is under no illusions that, while happy with the inherited victory, he needs to up his game in order to take Hamilton on based purely on performance.

“This race was a warning for me,” admitted Rosberg. “I need to go up a gear in two weeks in Canada, because Lewis will come back even stronger. And then he will be even more dangerous!”

Finally, Rosberg backed Mercedes, despite immense criticism of the basic strategy error that cost Hamilton his victory and the team an easy one-two.

“I don’t know exactly what happened [with Hamilton],” he is quoted by the news agency SID. “But I think we have the best possible strategy guys. They do a fantastic job, which on this occasion did not pay off. And what did the team lose in total? Three points.”

The championship heads off to Canada for Round 7, with Hamilton leading Rosberg by ten points and Mercedes well in command of the constructors’ standings.

[MIKA27]

WOLFF: YOU WANT ME TO PLAY PLAYSTATION WITH F1?

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff has ruled out taking drastic measures as his team analyses what went wrong in Monaco.

Wolff has already said those responsible for Sunday’s strategy blunder will not pay with their jobs, and now he says Lewis Hamilton will not be paid back for losing the prestigious Monaco grand prix with a ‘gift win’ elsewhere.

“You want me to start to play Playstation with F1?” Wolff told reporters. “No, we’re not doing this.”

However, the deep analysis of how Hamilton could so bizarrely be called in to pit so close to easily winning the race will continue.

Mercedes had a very pubic debrief through the paddock windows immediately after the chequered flag, and Wolff said 100 people in Brackley and Brixworth were then involved in a teleconference.

And “We will get together on Tuesday morning to analyse it and by then we will know where we had a gremlin in the system,” he explained.

Wolff, meanwhile, backed Hamilton – whose championship lead has dwindled to just ten points over teammate Nico Rosberg – to quickly bounce back.

A year ago in Monaco, the Briton’s behaviour in Monaco was roundly criticised in the wake of a qualifying controversy, but media figures have applauded Hamilton’s handling of the 2015 saga.

That is despite the 30-year-old sitting out the victory team photo on Sunday, the post-race debrief and interviews with print publications.

Still, former F1 driver David Coulthard told the Telegraph: “It is hard to imagine him dealing with such a bitter defeat so well a few years ago.”

Wolff agrees: “Absolutely. Compare the Lewis from a year ago after a difficult Monaco race to the Lewis we have seen at Monaco (in 2015).”

MIKA: Compare the Lewis from a year ago after a difficult Monaco race to the Lewis we have seen at Monaco (in 2015).”

$150 Million Euro does that to you!

[MIKA27]

ROOKIE NASR ADDS VOICE TO CRITICISM OF VERSTAPPEN

Felipe Nasr has joined the chorus of criticism of aimed at Formula 1 teenager Max Verstappen, in wake of his Toro Rosso driver’s spectacular crash during the Monaco Grand Prix..

Since controversially debuting as a 17-year-old this year, Verstappen has on one hand been hailed for his talent but simultaneously condemned for his age and lack of experience.

Bernie Ecclestone, however, has been a vocal supporter, “It is like telling Mozart he can’t play piano because he is too young. If he’s good enough, that’s it.”

However, on Sunday, the young Dutchman was lucky to escape serious injury in a frightening crash at Ste Devote, after which he was criticised by Romain Grosjean and Felipe Massa. And now Brazilian Nasr, who like Verstappen is a 2015 rookie, has joined the criticism.

“The accident is proof of his inexperience,” the 22-year-old Sauber driver, who arrived in F1 this year after three seasons in GP2, told Brazil’s Globo.

“I had an excellent education,” said Nasr, “and the time spent in each category was essential to be able to debut well in F1.”

“I learned a lot at Williams (as test driver) last year and entered F1 at the right age. I could not imagine myself in Formula 1 even at 20, considering all that I learned in these last few seasons,” he insisted.

[MIKA27]

BOTTAS URGES WILLIAMS TO STOP MAKING SILLY MISTAKES

Valtteri Bottas has urged Williams to get to the bottom of its Monaco slump, as the team’s dip in performance last weekend came at an awkward time, as the Finn is being strongly linked with a move to Ferrari.

“We must learn from this weekend,” the 25-year-old driver said, after an uncharacteristically poor weekend for Williams on the streets of Monaco. Actually, Williams also struggled at the famous race a year ago, Bottas said.

“This is the second year in succession that we have had a problem here,” he is quoted by Finland’s Turun Sanomat newspaper.

“We have to sort this out, because it would be silly to make the same mistakes in the future. If we want to be a top team, we cannot afford to have races like this where we are not at our level,” Bottas added.

“I’m not worried,” he insisted, “because now we are going back to the normal circuits, and we were strong in Canada last year and have some upgrades as well.”

[MIKA27]

PIRELLI NOT OPPOSED TO F1 TYRE WAR

Pirelli is “open” to going to war with a rival tyre manufacturer like Michelin, claims of the Italian company’s chief Marco Tronchetti Provera.

On a rare paddock visit in Monaco, he confirmed that Pirelli is applying to keep its role beyond 2016 as the sport’s sole tyre supplier.

It is expected former F1 supplier Michelin will also lodge an application, despite normally pushing for the return of a competitive ‘tyre war’ in F1.

Actually, Tronchetti Provera said Pirelli is not opposed to that. He said on Italian radio RAI that Pirelli is “indifferent” to the idea.

“It is the teams that do not want a competition that is overly conditioned by the tyres,” Tronchetti Provera insisted. But “We are open to any solution.”

However, he said Pirelli does have some conditions regarding its continued involvement beyond 2016.

“The basic condition is that we retain the selection of the compounds, to prevent incorrect usage by the teams, and then (other conditions are) safety and economic issues,” he said.

“I’ve already spoken with (Bernie) Ecclestone and (Jean) Todt and there is an alignment about the technical and safety standards. After that, we will see.

“I am confident, but if someone has the will to out-bid us, we will focus on something else. We remain interested, but not at any cost,” Tronchetti Provera insisted.

[MIKA27]

NO CELEBRATIONS AFTER FIRST POINTS SAY MCLAREN

There were no celebrations on after the Monaco Grand Prix despite a major breakthrough for the burgeoning McLaren-Honda project.

Six difficult races into the new Anglo-Japanese works era, Jenson Button scored the MP4-30’s first points at no less a venue than fabled Monaco.

But team boss Eric Boullier told Marca that no champagne was sprayed in the garage, “We will celebrate when we win something again.”

Boullier said any attention that might be diverted to celebrating the first four points must instead remain fixed on improving.

Fernando Alonso, for instance, would also have scored points in Monaco, if not for yet another technical failure.

The Spaniard was reported to have suffered a gearbox problem, but Boullier said the precise cause “is not yet clear”.

“But clearly we have to improve the reliability,” he insisted. “It is one of our priorities. We must improve in all areas.”

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MERHI’S MONACO SHOWING MAY BUY MORE F1 TIME

Rookie Roberto Merhi looks to be cementing his place at the Manor team, despite in the days before Monaco, team chiefs were still admitting that the Spaniard might at some point be unseated.

Unlike his full-time teammate Will Stevens, Spaniard Merhi is not substantially sponsored, with some reports saying he has been paid only with his airfares and hotels around the F1 calendar so far.

But the 24-year-old rookie has also struggled to keep up with Briton Stevens. At Monaco, however, Merhi was delighted to have finally beaten his teammate, “As soon as I went past Stevens, I managed to open a big advantage of more than a minute over him.

“I hope this is a turning point in the season,” he told Spanish reporters, “as being ahead of my teammate at this circuit where the driver matters more was very important.”

Manor and Stevens clarified that Stevens suffered early front wing damage on Sunday. But the former Marussia team also seems happy to keep Merhi in his place for now, even though the Spaniard is heading straight from Monaco to Spa for the next round of the Formula Renault 3.5 season.

“The past few races have been tough but it feels like everything is coming together now,” Merhi agreed. “Canada will be a new and different experience again but it feels like we are making good progress now.”

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No action over De Villota crash

The investigation into the late Maria de Villota's accident in 2012 has been complete and no action will be taken, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has confirmed.

Testing for Marussia at the time, De Villota crashed into a support truck at Duxford Airfield on 3 July 2012 and suffered multiple facial injuries.

Although she lost her right eye as a result of the accident, she was cleared to drive again in early 2013.

However, she died in October 2013 as "a consequence of the neurological injuries she suffered".

The Marussia outfit, which folded after the 2014 F1 season, denied after the accident that there was a problem with their MR-01 and the investigation has now cleared the team.

"The investigation is now complete and no enforcement action is being taken," an HSE spokesperson told the Independent.

"Both the company [Manor Grand Prix Racing] and the DP's [deceased person's] family have been informed."

He added "all reasonable lines of enquiry" had been investigated.

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Alonso: All my focus is on 2016

The 2015 season has been a difficult one for Fernando Alonso, but the Spaniard is not downbeat as he is using the campaign as a "test year" ahead of an assault on the title in 2016.

The renewed Honda-McLaren partnership got off to a difficult start, but things have improved in recent races with Jenson Button scoring the team's first points at the Monaco GP over the weekend with a P8 finish.

Alonso was also on course to finish in the points before his MP4-30 suffered a gearbox problem, resulting in his third retirement in five races.

Asked if he is frustrated with so many DNFs, he is quoted as saying by F1icom: "No, I want to be World Champion.

"This year it’s not possible, so the more problems that happen this year the better. We will make sure this does not happen next year when we have a competitive car, so this is a test year.

"It’s not a winter test it’s a whole year test and all of my mind, all my focus is on 2016, so we will try to go through 2015 with maximum learning."

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Nasr 'proving' his F1 credentials

Another race, another top 10 for Felipe Nasr with the Brazilian admitting the season is going better than expected.

The words "pay drivers" were thrown around when Sauber announced Nasr and Marcus Ericsson as their line-up for the 2015 season, but the duo have picked up 21 points in the first six races.

Rookie Nasr has been particularly impressive as has scored 16 of those points with a career-best a P5 in his debut race in Australia.

The 22-year-old again proved his quality in Monaco over the weekend as he came from 16th on the grid to finish ninth.

"I'm really, really happy, I can't explain how happy I am," he is quoted as saying by Crash.net. "The result is a big surprise and I am physically in pain because there is no margin for mistake on this race and we have to keep focus all of the time. Then there is no better feeling than scoring your first points in Monaco.

"This season is more than I was expecting. I wasn't this result and the team wasn't expecting this result so we are having a profiting season. We have to be happy and I think I am proving why I am in F1. These points are like a victory to us."