It’s that time again fellow Formula 1 fanatics for another Friday edition of F1 Newsbites, the last Grand Prix before the summer break is upon us this weekend at the Hungaroring for the Hungarian Grand Prix. Let’s dive into it!

 

Toro Rosso insists Key has a long term deal despite McLaren announcement

 

The first bit of news we come to is that McLaren have announced the signing of James Key from Toro Rosso to become their new Technical Director in a boost to their technical department as the team looks to climb back up the field, however, Toro Rosso have insisted that he still is under contract with the Faenza-based outfit.

 

A spokesperson from McLaren confirmed the news however provided no further details on when Key will be working for the Woking-based squad and Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost made it clear that he is not going anywhere.

 

“James has a valid long-term contract with Toro Rosso,” Tost explained to Autosport. “And that’s all what I can say about this. There’s nothing more to say.”

 

When asked if McLaren were indeed in negotiations with the Faenza-based outfit he responded: “I think they will come to us. I have no reason to discuss it with them, because we have a contract. Everything has been said.”

 

Tost ensured the team has enough depth to cover the loss of Key and would not have any impact on Toro Rosso’s development plans.

 

“Of course, it’s not supporting us, all this story around James,”  Tost continued. “This is clear. But the team from the technical side is strong enough, and there’s a good view about what we have to do with it all,”

 

“But we simply need also the time. I hope that we will bring some upgrades in the second half of the season, and if they are working as expected, I hope we can close the gap once more.” Tost concluded.

 

Key has two decades of Formula 1 experience having started with Jordan in the 1998 season as the team’s data engineer before moving onto becoming a race engineer for Takuma Sato.

 

Key also worked in the team’s Wind Tunnel, then transferred over to the Vehicle Dynamics Department and eventually became the team’s head of development in Jordan’s final seasons. He remained with the team when they became MF1 Racing, Spyker and Force India reaching the role of Technical Director.

 

Key moved to Sauber in the 2010 season and spent two seasons with the Hinwil squad before moving to Toro Rosso.

 

Meanwhile, Matt Morris has left his Engineering Director Role at McLaren, although it is not connected to Key’s possible arrival.

 

McLaren have undergone a big change behind the scenes with Eric Boullier leaving his Racing Director position earlier in the month. IndyCar legend Gil de Ferran came in as the team’s advisor before being promoted as Sporting Director and Andrea Stella took on the role as Performance Director for the Woking-based squad.

 

We wait on more details on the Key/Toro Rosso/McLaren situation as it develops.

 

 

Vandoorne changing chassis for Hungarian Grand Prix

 

Hockenheim was a weekend to forget for Stoffel Vandoorne, as the Belgian was the slowest in Q1 for the second time in his career and then finished the German Grand Prix in 13th. However, the McLaren driver is feeling confident ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix with McLaren changing his chassis.

 

Vandoorne struggled during Friday practice in Germany, more than half a second off the pace of team-mate Fernando Alonso, having no performance or grip with his MCL33 racer and there was no improvement over the weekend.

 

The disappointing result came after a similar performance at the British Grand Prix, and having look at the team’s data, the Woking-based outfit are reverting to a chassis used earlier on. Vandoorne pushed for that move, hoping for a much better performing car this weekend.

 

“Yes, we have swapped the chassis,” explained Vandoorne. “It’s not a brand new one, it’s one we’ve used before, but that’s not a problem at all. The fact the team has put in a lot of effort to try and get everything ready with a back-to-back race, it was quite tight for the mechanics to make it happen. But I arrive here fresh, and I start from zero,”

 

“The team put in a lot of effort to try and understand the problems we had. At the moment, we don’t know (what caused the issue). There’s no specific area we can say ‘okay that’s what’s causing it’ and tomorrow (Friday) we have a couple of tests in place across the cars to further understand. Hopefully tomorrow we can spot nothing as that means the two cars are going to be good,”

 

“I was pushing the team for it. Obviously what we did over the past couple of races we started to change a lot of parts and there came a point where we nearly did everything we could and that was one of the last pieces remaining. It’s not easy for the team to do that, especially when it’s a back-to-back race, but they’ve managed it.”

 

Vandoorne reflected on the British Grand Prix and the on-track feeling of his Renault-powered MCL33 racer, where the Belgian finished 11th.

 

“Austria was fine and then the first lap at Silverstone it didn’t feel right from the start and I think we’ve been last in every session since. There was just no grip,” Vandoorne continued. “The team already saw from Silverstone that there was something going on. But it was hard to tell it was a chassis-related issue. At the moment we haven’t driven the car yet so we don’t know yet but we’ve done everything now to remove the doubt,”

 

“For them it was clear to see on the data that something was going on, but it was hard to know exactly what part was causing it, so we first started to change a lot of the bits on the car and make sure there was nothing wrong with the build, but whatever we did it still had the same problem.”

 

It’s been a tough season for the 2015 GP2 Champion, scoring three top ten finishes but hopes last weekend’s German Grand Prix was the last of his bad run.

 

“I mean it was the situation as it was really. I hope we’re definitely over that this weekend. We’ve turned around everything and I really go into the weekend without any doubt,” the Belgian said.

 

“The team has really taken this seriously and they’ve put in a lot of effort to resolve the issue and I think we’ve removed every kind of doubt now that there might have been. Hopefully we can start the weekend here from zero without any problems and just have a normal weekend again. That’ll be a nice feeling.” Vandoorne concluded.

 

Vandoorne currently sits 16th in the Driver’s Championship, eight places behind McLaren team-mate Fernando Alonso.

 

 

Vale Sergio Marchionne – A great president and icon of the automotive industry

 

Sergio Marchionne remembered as a legend of the automotive industry for turning Fiat and Chrysler around and merging them into the seventh-largest automobile manufacturer in the world as well as bringing Ferrari back to challenging for both Formula 1’s Driver’s and Constructors Championships passed away Wednesday aged 66.

 

Born in the town of Chieti, Abruzzo in Italy June 17, 1952, Marchionne emigrated to Toronto with his family at aged 13 where they had relatives. He attended St. Michael’s College School, before completing studies in philosophy at the University of Toronto, earning a Bachelor of Commerce degree in 1979, and an MBA in 1985 both from the University of Windsor and a law degree from Osgoode Hall Law School of York University in 1983.

 

After completing his studies and life progressed, Marchionne returned to Europe where his success in restructuring falling companies saw him face the challenge of turning around Fiat.

 

In June 2004, whilst serving as CEO of goods inspector Société Générale de Surveillance SA, he was also appointed CEO of FIAT S.p.A. As Chief Executive Officer of Fiat, Marchionne massively improved the Italian automaker’s fortunes and in 2009 when Chrysler emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, Fiat Group received a 20% stake in the company.

 

In 2014, Fiat and Chrysler merged with Marchionne becoming CEO of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Later that year, he was appointed CEO and Chairman of Ferrari, taking the reigns from Luca Di Montezemolo who held the presidency since 1991.

 

Under Marchionne’s guidance, he replaced Marco Mattiacci with Maurizio Arrivabene as team principal of the Scuderia with Ferrari seeing a significant improvement in performance since the 1.6L V6 Turbocharged Hybrid era began, winning 11 Grands Prix (four this season so far) and propelling them back into the Driver’s and Constructors Championship hunt. His desire and determination for the team to return to the top was greatly seen.

 

This year also saw the iconic Alfa Romeo name return to Formula 1 with Sauber as part of Marchionne’s plan for the Italian manufacturer to gain better global exposure and an increase in profits for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles.

 

Marchionne’s charisma and passion played a major role in negotiations to shape the future of Formula 1, threatening to pull the Scuderia out of the sport on many occasions. On June 21 due to the gravity of his condition, he was replaced by John Elkann who takes over as Ferrari president and Louis C. Camilleri set to officially become CEO.

 

Marchionne sadly passed away July 25, 2008 at aged 66 and is survived by former wife Orlandina, his current partner Manuela Battezatto and two adult sons Alessio and Tyler.

 

Vale Sergio Marchionne, a brilliant, energetic leader driven by passion to succeed and achieve the best results will be greatly missed by all.

 

Perez: “Force India financial situation critical”

 

Sergio Perez says he will not be waiting too long for clarification on Force India’s financial situation before making a decision on his Formula 1 future.

 

The Mexican is on the look-out elsewhere, with Haas mentioned as a possible replacement for Romain Grosjean.

 

While Perez sees Force India as one of his choices, the financial issues have slowed development and with rumours of new investors or owners looking to takeover the Silverstone-based squad has created uncertainty.

 

“At the moment the situation is critical,” Perez explained. “There’s no secret that the financial problems have held the team back quite a bit.”

 

“If you look at the results, because F1 is just about results, we are fifth in the constructors’ championship, and you cannot imagine the financial issues that we’ve had so far. It just shows the potential this team has,”

 

“Definitely I would like to see what happens in the coming weeks and months with the team, because I believe it is a great team,”

 

“I’m not in a hurry because I know I’m in a great position, but the sooner the better.” Perez said.

 

When Autosport asked the Mexican whether he won’t wait too long before any news on ownership changes for Force India, he said: “Yeah, there is also a point on how long you can wait to make up your mind, you know? I think now during the summer break I will have a good idea what’s happening here, and then I will be able to make a clear decision.”

 

Though Perez is looking at other options ahead of the 2019 season and beyond, he insisted that Force India may still give him the best opportunity.

 

“I’m lucky enough to have a couple of options,” Perez continued. “Obviously we all want to be driving in the top two teams, Ferrari or Mercedes, so obviously it’s very unlikely that I’ll have an opportunity there for the next years.

 

“So you have to look at where is the best option for your future, where you can show your talent. I’ve been for the last two years the best of the rest in the drivers’ championship.”

 

“I just want to see what’s possible for next year, which teams have a vacancy, and then decide. I will definitely wait to see what happens here because I believe this team has the most potential of anyone outside the top three teams.”

 

The Mexican predicted that there will be fewer moves in the driver market than the paddock suggests.

 

“We see a lot of moving around in the media about the driving market, but things are a lot more quiet, and I think probably there will be less movement than expected,” Perez concluded.

 

 

Bottas: “No plans for playing support role”

 

After extending his contract with the Silver Arrows last weekend, and going wheel-to-wheel with Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton in a battle for the victory in Germany but being told to hold station for the team to take a 1-2 at their home Grand Prix, Valtteri Bottas insisted that he has no plans for playing supporting role at the Brackley-based squad.

 

“I do believe we are still allowed to race freely,” Bottas explained. “Obviously it always goes case by case, but there’s no plan in place at the moment for me being at all in the support role. So we’re still on equal terms and that’s the plan for now. Hopefully it will continue until the end of the year.”

 

Compared to rivals Ferrari and Red Bull, the Silver Arrows endured a difficult triple header of races leading to their German Grand Prix triumph. Bottas and Hamilton suffered retirements in Austria, before conceding the victory to Ferrari at Silverstone, while Bottas was clipped by Sebastian Vettel in the opening lap at the French Grand Prix, which saw the Finn recover to finish seventh.

 

“I think with all the difficult races we had on the triple header, we lost so many points with different courses, and I kind of get the team’s decision,” continued Bottas. “We were side by side a couple of times and they wanted to get those points.”

 

However, Bottas ensures that he would not be slipping into a number two role at Mercedes, despite being 66 points behind championship-leading team-mate Hamilton.

 

“I’m very confident they would have done the same if I was in the lead,” Bottas added. “There’s been no decisions or anything like that made that I would be in a different role than Lewis. We’re still both trying to collect maximum points, trying to always win the race. We always have equal chance for that.” Bottas concluded.

 

 

Sainz: “We’ll bounce back in Hungary”

 

Following three races without scoring a point, and after a great run of seven-top ten finishes in the opening eight Grands Prix of the 2018 season including finishing a high of fifth in Azerbaijan, Carlos Sainz has encountered a difficult period as of late. But the Spaniard is hopeful of a change in fortunes this time round at the Hungaroring.

 

Like his rivals around him, Sainz is confident he’ll deliver in Budapest before Formula 1 heads into it’s summer break with the Spaniard motivated to succeed despite his recent struggles.

 

Tyre problems hindered his Austrian Grand Prix, before a tangle with Haas F1 Team’s Romain Grosjean ended his race at Silverstone early. Then at last weekend’s German Grand Prix, he was hit with a 10 second time penalty for passing under the safety car, which ruined his chances of taking tenth and the single point whilst his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg came home fifth at his home race.

 

But Sainz remains positive, believing the tight-twisty nature of the Hungaroring, a track with it’s trademark low-speed corners should help the Enstone-based French works manufacturer outperform it’s midfield rivals.

 

“It’s finally going to be a race track that suits our car better,” explained Sainz. “We’ve come through three or four very difficult tracks for us with lots of long straights and high-speed corners that we know we are not so strong at.”

 

“We brought the upgrade back in Hockenheim that we’ll finally run on both cars this weekend, (as well as) a few other upgrades. Together with the track layout, I think it will suit the car a bit better with slower-speed corners.”

 

“We have a good chance of being the fourth fastest team in qualifying, it has been a while since we have been. It would be nice, and a big motivational boost for all the team to go into the summer break with both cars in the points.”

 

Despite not scoring points for the past three races, the Spaniard is confident that the improvements he has made since the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, is making him feel more comfortable with the setup of his RS-18 racer.

 

“I’ve settled in pretty nicely. Especially, I would say since Baku/Barcelona, as I’ve managed to do what I wanted to do,” Sainz continued. “I’ve got the car a bit more to my liking, and my comfort. Then, just when I started to do that and started do good qualifying, it looks like Sundays have become a bit more complicated.”

 

“I’m not getting all the points I would like to get. But those things have been a bit out of my control recently, and I’m happy where I am with the car and the speed I have with the car.”

 

“If you start picking up the points that I’ve lost in the three or four races for things that are a bit out of my control, I think my position would be reflected a lot better. My team know that, I know that.”

 

“In terms of speed, especially since Baku/Barcelona, I have taken a step forward and I feel more confident with the car. Sometimes the points don’t reflect the situation and the realistic state of your championship and performance.” Sainz concluded.

 

Ahead of this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix, Sainz is 12th in the Driver’s Championship standings, trailing Force India’s Sergio Perez who is tenth by two points.