GP3 racer Tatiana Calderon has completed a two-day test in the 2013 Sauber as part of her driver development role with the Swiss team.

The Colombian had her first outing with Sauber in Mexico last month, driving the current car in a promotional event following the Grand Prix in Mexico City.

However, this past weekend saw the 25-year-old gain her first major on-track experience, completing just shy of 600km as she ran a wide-ranging program including qualifying and race simulations on Sunday.

"It was a really great first experience driving in Fiorano," Calderon said on Saturday.

"The track is interesting, and the atmosphere is special. The air and track temperatures were quite low today, but consistent.

"Our target was for me to learn the track and find a good balance for the car, which we achieved."

24 hours later, her evaluation of the weekend was very positive.

"Overall, the past two days have been very beneficial to my development and I have gained valuable experience," she added.

"The team did a great job in the preparation as well as the implementation of my programme and I felt comfortable in the car as well as on the track.

"I look forward to putting what I have learned to practice."

Lance Stroll believes has made personal progress as a driver despite the "awful" performance of his Williams car in 2018.

Eighth in Baku and ninth at Monza are the only two points results the Canadian has to his name this season as the Grove-based squad has struggled with a flawed chassis.

Certainly, with the negatives outweighing the positives in terms of highlights, the 20-year-old didn't hold back in his criticism of the FW41.

“The couple of races I scored points were good but I really had to work for it," he was quoted by RaceFans.

“Generally the car hasn’t been there, it’s been terrible to drive. The performance just has been awful. That’s been frustrating but that’s how it is. I’ve digested it."

Stroll particularly feels Williams' problems have masked his own improvements in his second season on the grid.

“If I take the car out of the equation I believe I’ve improved well as a driver and I’ve matured a lot," he claimed.

"I’ve had a few good qualifyings where I’ve managed to get the car into Q2 and Q3 in Monza which is a big deal for us as a team, even though the position’s far from ideal.

“And I’ve had a couple of good races scoring points. I believe that it’s still been a good year in that sense.”

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Next year, Stroll will step up to Force India after his father Lawrence bought the team mid-season and it appears to be a move that can't come soon enough.

“Overall I expected much more from us as a team this year and from the car, we haven’t developed the car at all," he claimed. "We have the same car that we had in Australia which is a bit of a shame.”

Renault advisor Alain Prost admits there is little sadness around the French manufacturer ahead of their final race with Red Bull in Abu Dhabi.

Despite a 12-year partnership that has brought 59 wins and four world championships, the relationship has been difficult between the two parties since 2014 as the turbo-hybrid era saw the Milton Keynes squad unable to challenge Mercedes with Ferrari also pulling ahead.

It has often led to Red Bull's bosses and drivers being heavily critical of the Renault product and it is that which Prost admits the company won't miss.

"We were ultimately not unhappy to see them go, you have to be honest," he told L'Equipe.

"I keep very good relationships with them, even if I criticize their way of communicating. They always go a step too far, and they know it."

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Red Bull will be swapping Renault for Honda in 2019 and recent upgrades by the Japanese company has led to claims they are now ahead of their French counterparts in the performance race.

While Prost has doubts about that, he does concede it is unlike Renault will be fighting Red Bull next year.

"Compared to Honda, we're in front for now, but with the same engine the Red Bull was better than us, an indication of the efficiency of their chassis," said the four-time F1 champion.

"There's a significant gap and it won't be easy to match them next year in this respect. But it's not impossible."

Daniel Ricciardo believes a podium at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix would be a "fitting end" to his 10-year association with Red Bull.

The Australian will be off to Renault in 2019 and has been eager for one last 'shoey' in the dark blue overalls but luck hasn't been on his side in recent races.

Ricciardo retired while second in Mexico and finished just 0.4s behind Kimi Raikkonen in fourth last time out in Brazil, still he's not giving up hope ahead of the season finale.

“I’m sure it’s going to be emotional afterwards, especially when I cross the line for the last time with the team," he said in Red Bull's race preview.

"But I’m going there guns a blazing, showing a lot of love. Hopefully the love shows me back and I can spray some fake champagne on Sunday, which would be a fitting farewell.”

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While the straights of Yas Marina may not suit his RB14 so well, the 'Honey Badger' does think a strong result is possible.

“Abu Dhabi has always been a pretty good track for me and I enjoy going there," Ricciardo said.

"I’m yet to get an Abu Dhabi podium, but that would be a pretty awesome way to end my stint with Red Bull and to end the season.”

Marcus Ericsson believes he should get some recognition for Sauber's upturn in performance in 2018.

The Swiss team has enjoyed their most successful season since 2013 with 42 points on the board, just one short of their cumulative total in the last four years.

Much of that has been down to a tie-up with Alfa Romeo which brought the most current Ferrari engine and Charles Leclerc, who has scored 33 of Sauber's points so far this season.

Even so, Ericsson, who has matched his best ever year in F1 with nine points and was very unfortunate last weekend in Brazil having qualified sixth, doesn't think the Monegasque deserves all the plaudits.

“In Melbourne, we followed Williams along with the field,” the Swede was quoted by PlanetF1

“After that, we’ve improved a lot and I’ve got a stake in it, Charles and I worked hard with the team and tried to steer it in the right direction.”

The respective futures of the two drivers is very different with Leclerc going onto Ferrari next year while Ericsson has been dropped and will head to IndyCar.

“I do not want to close the door to the premier class, but now I’m going to America,” Marcus claimed.

"At the end of the season, I want to prove to the team again why they will miss me.

“They [Ericsson's IndyCar team Schmidt Peterson Motorsport] seem to be happy that I’m coming, and I’m looking forward to moving there.

“I have high expectations, and I want to use the feeling of winning there.”

Lewis Hamilton has identified the rise of Formula 1's two young guns, Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc, as a reason for him to keep raising his game in 2019.

For the second straight season, the Briton saw off a challenge from Sebastian Vettel to claim his fifth championship as a combination of remarkable consistency and errors from the other side proved decisive.

However, with the level of competition expected to grow, Hamilton knows avoiding the problems he did have at certain times this year will be paramount.

"We will definitely look at the season at the end of the year and there are always areas you look at," explained the Mercedes driver

"We didn't win every single race, there were some mishaps at the beginning of the year and there is always room to improve.

"So I expect to do that and that's my expectation in myself. I have got to work to do over this winter and there will be a slightly amended approach.

"Of course, you have to dig deep because you have these young kids that are coming," Lewis added.

"Leclerc at Ferrari will be hungry to prove a point and you've got Max who is still hungry to prove a point, so I have to make sure I am still there [at the top of my game]."

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Anticipation is growing over Leclerc after a number of strong performances, including a remarkable Q2 lap in Brazil which saw him make the top 10 when rain had appeared to make the track too wet.

The Monegasque then followed that up with a 'best of the rest' seventh place in the race and admits having Hamilton's attention is very satisfying.

"It's definitely an honour to hear that from Lewis," he said. "He's an incredible driver and I've watched him for quite a few years before arriving in F1.

"I'll just try to do the best I can next year, but it's definitely not going to be easy. He's very experienced and an amazing driver. But it's definitely good to hear that."

As for Verstappen, he has arguably been the only driver near Hamilton's level since Canada and with expectations high over Red Bull's switch to Honda power, the Dutchman could be set to strike.

Fernando Alonso has reiterated that the level of predictability in today's Formula 1 has made it no longer the sport it once was.

Next weekend's season finale in Abu Dhabi will see the Spaniard bring to a close a 17-year career that began with Minardi back in 2001 and will end with two world titles and 36 wins to his name.

As a failed return to McLaren in 2015 has gone on, Alonso's focus has been elsewhere competing in the Indianapolis 500 last year before adding the WEC with Toyota to his schedule this year.

And it is that lack of interest in today's F1 that he once again spoke of as he competes this weekend at the Shanghai 6 Hours.

“What happens now is not the Formula 1 that made me want to be a racing driver,” Alonso told Speed Week.

“I quit F1 because I think we’re a weak show. We talk more about what happens next to the track. We talk about polemics and radio messages.

“I could write down the first 15 positions for the result of the next race, perhaps with a few changes of places. I find it hard to accept how predictable it has become.

"I suppose I find more pleasure in other racing series.”

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Fernando will continue with the second year of WEC's 'super-season' in 2019 as well as a return to Indianapolis to seek the 500 which stands between him and motorsport's 'Triple Crown'.

Earlier this week, he also promised more events would be added as he looks at life after F1.

Four-time Formula 1 champion Alain Prost has warned it is becoming "very complicated" for even talented drivers to come through the motorsport ranks without strong financial backing.

The power of money, particularly in F1, has frustrated plenty in recent years with a number of highly-rated names either failing to reach the grid or only lasting a handful of years at most before often being dropped in favour of drivers with more sponsorship.

Drivers like Esteban Gutierrez, Sergio Perez and Pastor Maldonado all made their way through the ranks thanks to strong financial support from companies in their homeland, while others, like Lance Stroll, have enjoyed the backing of their wealthy families.

"To reach F1 without any money is very complicated today," Prost told L'Equipe.

"Drivers' careers are starting increasingly earlier. A four-year-old kid is put into a kart before moving through racing's junior ranks, which requires a lot of financial support.

"A driver programme such as the one Elf offered no longer exists. Drivers coming from rich families are therefore advantaged."

It isn't just the drivers who have to think about the bottom line though, with the Frenchman all too aware of the challenge teams face and the decisions they must make.

"When I was a team owner, I was also confronted with the difficulty of choosing between a talented driver and one with money. If you take the former, you risk an economic death," Prost claimed.

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Today the only alternative for young drivers without the support is to get on the programs offered by the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull but they are no guarantee of success either.

"A junior programme is meant to accompany a driver to the top but if you don't put him in the right place at the right time, the system generates its own failures. So why keep a driver?" Prost argued.

Currently, the most talked about example is Esteban Ocon, who's not going to be on the grid in 2019 after Stroll's takeover at Force India and Renault backed down from taking the Frenchman.

"[Mercedes boss] Toto Wolff criticized Renault, but why didn't he replace Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes with Ocon?" Prost wondered, backing up his earlier point.

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff has warned Formula 1 owners Liberty Media they face a tough fight to overhaul the current financial structure.

Alongside a budget cap, which appears to be largely agreed on, the sport's new chiefs want to change the current revenue structure to spread the payments more evenly across all 10 teams.

Mercedes, however, are among five teams that receive additional bonus payments from the commercial rights holder getting what is called a "latching bonus" which was negotiated in 2013 but came into effect after they secured a second consecutive Constructors' Championship in 2015.

Now Liberty wants to take those benefits away or at least renegotiate in an effort to close the inequality gap but Wolff insists it will not be easy.

“When Mercedes decided to join F1 we were not competitive and we didn’t have any privileges,” he said to RaceFans.

“We really dug ourselves out of a big hole knowing that, if we were to be successful, we would have the right to more privileges and be taken seriously.

“This was an uphill battle that lasted many years with a lot of struggle, a lot of responsibility that we took and investment from Daimler to achieve that status. For sure we will not be a walkover in letting go [of] what we have achieved over the last years.

“Today, we are proud to be an important stakeholder of the sport but it is also clear that everybody is going to defend his own objectives.”

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Talks have been taking place in recent weeks, including at the Brazilian Grand Prix and despite his words, Wolff did have a fairly positive update.

“We’ve been having good discussions, open discussions and transparent discussions which is a new style in F1,” he said. “And it’s not clear everybody is embracing that with all the right values.

“But at least we’re sitting down and talking and this is good progress. We’re having a meeting with Chase also where he is being transparent, Ross [Brawn] was there. I think it’s very good that we have a little bit of a momentum in the discussions.”

Lewis Hamilton senses a greater sense of satisfaction within Mercedes having retained both Formula 1 championships for the fifth time.

Following the Briton's fifth Drivers' title in Mexico, the Brackley-based squad followed it up by clinching the Constructors' crown in Brazil to ensure Mercedes remain undefeated in the turbo-hybrid era.

The battle that led to their success in 2018 was much different, however, after a season-long fight with Ferrari and it was that which Hamilton believes caused the more rapturous celebrations.

"We win races and we've been very fortunate to have a lot of success, but when we win [before] everyone is quite quiet - happy, but quite controlled," Lewis was quoted by Autosport.

"This time it was just great see everyone [celebrate]. Everyone was just biting their nails through the year, so it was such an incredible effort from everyone.

"It's never a given, you just have to keep working, keep churning away and that's what we did, kept hopes high and kept our targets very, very high.

"This should and will have a great end to the year for us but also a great knock-on effect for next year," Hamilton predicted.

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The 33-year-old also spoke about the extra tension he has felt within Mercedes this season, particularly from his boss Toto Wolff.

"I could see how nervous Toto was," he said.

"He kept on reminding me how important this was for the team and I was saying, 'Toto, I know, I've been with the team for six years now, I know how important this is and you don't have to tell me - I did get pole and I'm doing the job, just sit back and let me do what I do.'

"To be able to do that, to see everyone's excitement, I've never experienced the height that I've experienced here."

The jubilation was clear in parc ferme at Interlagos when Hamilton's jump into the arms of his mechanics brought down the metal barriers which encircle the area.

"When we did the jumping around and everything and we fell off the barrier, I think it might be the best moment that I've had with this team," Lewis concluded.