Bernie Ecclestone has played down suggestions the F1 calendar could blow out to an unprecedented 22 races in 2014. The reports, including in the Italian magazine Autosprint, followed this week's surprise news that Austria will stage a grand prix next year, after a ten-year absence. There are 19 races on the 2013 schedule, with Russia and New Jersey also scheduled to join next year. It is a situation that is of concern to Formula 1 team bosses, with talks set to take place at the […]

Mercedes was not found 'guilty' of breaking the rules, Niki Lauda insists. The German team has been banned from the forthcoming young drivers test at Silverstone, and was officially reprimanded for running its 2013 car and race drivers in a secret test with Pirelli at Barcelona last month. "There was no rule violation," triple world champion Lauda, the Brackley based team's chairman and a co-owner, told Austrian broadcaster ORF. "We got a warning -- not even a yellow card which could lead to a red […]

Mercedes is bidding to shed its "conservative" image, new director and team co-owner Toto Wolff has revealed. Over the winter, it has been all change at the German team; swapping Michael Schumacher with Lewis Hamilton, Norbert Haug with Austrian Wolff and Niki Lauda, and soon set to push ahead with McLaren's ex technical chief Paddy Lowe. "At Mercedes, we no longer want to be so conservative," Wolff is quoted by Austrian television ORF 1. "The new Mercedes (road car) models are young and sporty." He […]

Mercedes' new recruit Toto Wolff has revealed he will be based at Brackley. A new team shareholder and officially called executive director, 41-year-old Austrian Wolff is in essence replacing Norbert Haug, Mercedes' long-time motor sport vice-president. "These are very large shoes to fill," he said in an interview with Austrian broadcaster ORF. "He (Haug) did a lot of things extremely well. "It has not gone as expected last year and now we have to figure out what happened," said Wolff. "But Norbert certainly was not […]

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko has hinted Felipe Massa deliberately impeded Sebastian Vettel at the end of qualifying in Korea. Vettel's last Q3 run was indeed interrupted by Ferrari's Massa, but the German - who ultimately qualified second behind his teammate Mark Webber - initially blamed his engineer. "Why did you not tell me about Massa?" Vettel shouted to his engineer Rocky on the radio. Vettel told reporters afterwards: "These things happen, it's not Felipe's fault at all. If anything it was my mistake." Outspoken […]

Niki Lauda has confirmed that Michael Schumacher turned to Sauber and even Ferrari once he knew he would lose his Mercedes seat. Austrian legend Lauda, who has joined Mercedes as non-executive chairman, insists seven time world champion Schumacher lost his seat only because his decision-making period about the future beyond 2012 was so prolonged. He says Mercedes had to look around for alternatives, and closed a deal with Lewis Hamilton. "We have seen how fast-moving and ruthless Formula One is, with Mercedes responding extremely quickly […]

With six races to go, F1 2012 is becoming a two-horse race, according to former grand prix driver Karl Wendlinger. Before pole sitter and runaway race leader Lewis Hamilton's McLaren gearbox failed on Sunday, his boss Martin Whitmarsh had admitted the outcome in Singapore would be crucial to the world championship. Indeed -- instead of being 27 points behind with six races to go, the Briton now trails Fernando Alonso by a whopping 52 points. Hamilton said afterwards that he will "never give up". But […]

Drivers stranded down the Valencia grid are not expecting to scythe through the field on Sunday. Jenson Button qualified ninth and admitted he doubts he will fare much better in the race. Told by an optimistic reporter at Valencia that 'lots can happen' over 57 long laps on Sunday, the Briton answered: "Not really, we're in Valencia. You can't overtake round here. "Not a lot happens here in a race. I don't think it will be the most exciting one." Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel is […]

Susie Wolff is gearing up for her first Williams test next week. She revealed to Austrian broadcaster ORF that she is scheduled to drive the Renault-powered FW34 in a straight-line test outside of Barcelona on Tuesday. 29-year-old Scot and DTM driver Wolff, nee Stoddart, was appointed as a test driver this year for Williams, the famous British team that is co-owned by her Austrian husband Toto Wolff. She said her second outing will also be for an aerodynamic test. "I'm lucky that I'm very good […]

Team co-owner Toto Wolff on Friday defended Bruno Senna, after a bad day in Montreal for Williams' Brazilian driver. Senna, never higher than 17th quickest on Friday, had several off-track excursions at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve before crashing heavily at the notorious 'wall of champions'. His questionable form threatens to intensify rumours Williams might replace the struggling 28-year-old with reserve driver Valtteri Bottas, who is managed by Austrian Wolff. Wolff, however, defended Senna, insisting the driver does not need a dressing-down because "he is the […]

Norbert Haug said he is proud Mercedes has reached the top of Formula One in a short space of time and with a small budget. The German carmaker's works team is often lumped together with F1's other grandees including Ferrari and McLaren, but Haug insists the Brackley based outfit is in fact "a small team, with a small budget". Mercedes' competition boss, who on Sunday collected the winning constructors' trophy on the Shanghai podium, also said some of the team's rivals - undoubtedly Red Bull […]

Despite not collecting a single point in Melbourne, the Williams team will travel from Australia to Malaysia in upbeat mood. The famous British outfit's slide from its race and title-winning days hit rock bottom in 2011, scoring just five points all season and only finishing ahead of the three struggling new teams in the constructors' championship. But Oxfordshire based Williams has restructured for the 2012 season and is now led technically by former McLaren chief designer Mike Coughlan, and in Australia the newly Renault-powered FW34 […]