F1 Today – 27/08/2015
Unbeatable Hamilton – Lauda
Mercedes chairman Niki Lauda believes that Lewis Hamilton is unbeatable in his current form. The three times world champion that that if Nico Rosberg is to win the title Hamilton will need mistakes.
Hamilton has had taken six wins and ten poles this season with the 30-year old currently leading Rosberg by 28 points. The British driver has looked to be on brilliant form throughout the season. Lauda believes that Rosberg will need his Mercedes team-mate to make a mistake in order to stand a chance of beating him.
Speaking to the BBC Lauda said “At the moment it doesn’t look like it [is possible to beat Hamilton] because it was an incredible performance in practice, outstanding performance in the race and at the moment Lewis is unbeatable.”
He says if Hamilton doesn’t make mistakes it will be hard for Rosberg. He added “Nico will still try to fight him and it could be that at the next couple of races Lewis will make a small mistake with the set-up of the car and Nico will be there again.”
Get a grip on tyre wear – Massa
Felipe Massa says that Williams needs to get on top of the tyre wear situation after both the Brazilian and team-mate Valtteri Bottas struggled for pace on the Pirelli tyres at Spa.
However after the switch to the soft tyres Massa soon was able to find pace but was harmed by a drive through penalty. He says that the first ten laps was a disaster for the team. He told Fox Sports “The start was not good, but also the pace on the soft tires was really a disaster. We lost many positions on both cars. It was really tough.”
Adding “I’m sure it paid a lot the result we had at the end of the race, this problem that we had at the beginning.” He says the result could have been totally different.
Massa didn’t see a trend from Hungary where Williams also struggled saying “It was an issue for those tires on this track, and we need to understand why it was not working, and make it work (with) whatever tires we use”
Hoping to retain Hulkenberg and Perez
Force India are hoping to retain their current driver line up of Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez for 2016 as they target a top four finished in 2016. The driver market has settled down after Ferrari announced that Kimi Raikkonen was to stay with the team for another season.
Team principal Vijay Mallya wants to retain his pairing. Telling the official Formula One website “I have always said that I am delighted with both of them and I want to keep both of them.”
Mallya is hoping that his team can break through into the top four team and believes that B-spec Force India introduced at the British Grand Prix this season has the potential to be developed into a front runner. He added “I have set my targets for the team, and we are doing very well in achieving them”
“I will not get carried away saying that we will achieve P4 this season, but there is no reason why we should not target that in 2016.”
He says that there is potential to carry the B-spec car into 2016 before a reinvention in 2017.
Hoping of a return – Chilton
Max Chilton has told Sky Sports that he has had talks with Haas about returning to F1 when they join next season. Previously the team said they had a list of ten drivers on their list.
The team has also had Ferrari’s reserve drivers Esteban Gutierrez and Jean-Eric Vergne linked to the team because of their technical partnership. Chilton wishes for the chance to return to the grid next year.
“That is for them to decide,” he told Sky Sports, when asked if he would drive for Haas next year. He added he has “definitely put my foot in the door and we’ve had a few chats. I think they came out a few weeks ago and said they were talking to 10 drivers so I am definitely one of those. I’d love the chance”
But he said he has a “strong feeling that it is going to be one young Ferrari driver.” He also said he would be happy to return to Manor because he has “a lot to prove.”
Rossi surge hoping sways Haas
Alexander Rossi is hoping that his upturn in GP2 will be enough to gain him a race seat wit Haas next season. Rossi took his first win of the season during the Belgian Grand Prix.
The American is currently second in the championship 105 points adrift of championship leader and McLaren protege Stoffel Vandoorne. He says that talks are not at an advanced stage yet. He told Autosport “We’re one of the 10 drivers they have, but I don’t think anyone really knows where they’re at. Obviously I have my hopes”
Adding “but at the same time I’m not putting all my eggs in one basket because we are talking to other teams and looking at different options, with Formula 1 still being the main objective.”
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