Formula One Features

It's on! The FIA has decided to challenge the four manufacturers currently involved in Formula One after they declined to bring down the price demanded for their Power Units. Without any consultation with the Formula One Strategic Group, any vote on the Formula One Commission, or submitting a proposal to the World Council for Motor Sports, the FIA has invited independent manufacturers to declare their interest in being the sole suppliers of alternative engines to the Formula One teams from 2017 to 2019.

How refreshing was the Mexican Grand Prix. As most people left Austin hoping for at least a bit of dry weather in Mexico, the general mood in the paddock was not great - but a few days later the mood in the paddock had changed - and for the better!

What a cracking race we had last Sunday in Austin! Yes, the final result was a very common victory for Lewis Hamilton, but until positions stabilised with around ten laps to go, we had a lot of overtaking among the front runners, and some seriously breathtaking wheel-to-wheel racing.

A couple of weeks away from turning 85, Bernie Ecclestone showed up in Sochi with renewed energy, proving, yet again, he can play in many different boards at the same time without ever losing focus of what he wants to achieve in each one of them.

When Fernando Alonso compared his McLaren's Honda V6 to a GP2 engine, frustrated for being so easily overtaken by Ericsson and Verstappen on the run down to Suzuka's first corner, the Japanese company's pride took a big hit.

What promised to be a quiet Autumn in the Formula One paddock is turning out to be quite the opposite with Red Bull deciding to bring the heavy guns out and is now threatening to quit Formula One at the end of the year, giving a lot to write about to most journalists involved in the sport.

The Italian Grand Prix is always a special occasion for anyone in F1. The whole country seems to have motor racing in its system, there's a vibe about the Parco di Monza that you don't find elsewhere, and even in these days where aerodynamics make it difficult for the drivers to have a real battle in that magnificent track, all of them seem to adore the place...

...and they'll take a mile, I found myself thinking during the Belgian Grand Prix, last weekend. Through the once daunting Eau Rouge/Radillon section many drivers were going completely off the track to achieve better lap times, from the start of free practice until the end of the race. The FIA had put a sausage kerb at the top of the Radillon but after many drivers went over it during Friday sessions it was removed for being "scary and dangerous". Going slower and avoiding it didn't seem to be an option drivers would contemplate though...

Jules Bianchi was in everyone's mind when we landed in Budapest, and drivers were bombarded with questions about the late Frenchman, as this was the first funeral many of them had attended - not an easy experience for anyone, let alone when you're there to say goodbye to someone so young.

Last week's meeting of the FIA World Motor Sport Council approved the 2016 F1 calendar, extending the season to 21 Grand Prix. That decision alone should be enough reason for concern for the teams, for the amount of travelling and days away from home will be increased - and we will all have the mammoth task of working over the space of just 35 weeks.

Formula One can be a funny old business, particularly when it comes to drivers choices - mainly about the way some top teams make decisions that can cost them Grand Prix victories and even World Championships.

The complete lack of strategy from the Formula One Strategic Group has been overtly exposed recently. I honestly suspect the reason the FIA decided to publish the conclusions of the Group's meeting before the Monaco Grand Prix was to finally show to the world that having six teams sitting in the same room in the hope they'll come up with a logical new set of rules is useless, because they either fail to agree on anything or approve measures that are not possible to introduce.

The last time I looked, the series I've been covering for nearly three decades was called the FIA Formula One World Championship. But when it comes to making the rules in Formula One, the Federation seems to be largely absent.

Audi's long awaited arrival in the Formula One World Championship got one step closer recently with Ferdinand Piech's forced decision to resign from the Board of Directors of the Volkswagen Group.

Few sports, if any, have the technology to evaluate the quality of the performance of its stars that Formula One has. Inside each team they can analyse every action of their drivers in detail, as telemetry has developed in such a way that it's now impossible for a driver to hide even the tinniest mistake from his engineers.

Few things are uglier and more embarrassing for those forced to watch and listen than a couple arguing in public, so Red Bull and Renault have been giving the Formula One fans the kind of spectacle we all want to avoid seeing. In spite of the tremendous success the Red Bull-Renault partnership enjoyed between 2010 and 2013.

Don't you just love Formula One? Just when even the insiders criticise the lack of excitement in the races we're treated to a cracking Malaysian Grand Prix that had every real fan on the edge of their seat watching, in disbelief, as Sebastian Vettel and Ferrari beat Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes.

The first Grand Prix tends to be an exciting event, with new cars, and drivers with new rules, so the combination creates a lot of expectations for the fans. So, when the biggest story of the first race is a court case between a driver whose contract was not respected and a team that is struggling to survive, Formula One should really stop and do a reality check, because there's no bad situation that cannot get worse...

Bernie Ecclestone has promised a decision about this year's German Gran Prix will be made this weekend, avoiding the ridiculous situation of having the championship started without anyone knowing how many rounds it would include.

Ayrton Senna is best remembered for his time at McLaren, but the Brazilian started his Formula One career with Toleman, a small British team where Senna met Pat Symonds, then a young race engineer...

If it was last gasp for Sebastian Vettel in 2010 at Abu Dhabi, it was a walk in the park for the likeable young German in 2011. Things went so well that Red Bull Racing will have its work cut out to improve upon their performance next season.

If you had told McLaren in February that Jenson Button would finish runner-up in the drivers' championship and that they would score six victories, they would probably have taken that.

When Ferrari and Fernando Alonso finished 2010 so strongly many assumed that the combination would take the fight to Red Bull in 2011. It's probably fair to say that Ferrari started the new season joint championship favourites. It wasn't to be.

Mercedes, like Renault, came up with a car concept that was overtaken by events. In Mercedes' case it was a failure to anticipate the evolution and power of the developing exhaust technology.