Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff admits closing the engine gap to Ferrari is a big motivation over the second half of the season but is wary pushing too hard could impact the championship.

This year, a split battery concept developed by the Italian team has led to questions over the legality of their hybrid system, with claims it produces more than the permitted 160 horsepower, but investigations by the FIA since Monaco have left the governing body satisfied all is above board.

GPS data has suggested the Scuderia is now some way ahead of Mercedes in the power department, with the Prancing Horse half a second faster at Hockenheim on the straights alone, and that is obviously bugging the team which had dominated the engine stakes since 2014.

“I believe that it’s nice again to be in a situation that you’re the challenger and since 2013 we haven’t been the challenger anymore," Wolff told ESPN.

“It’s so difficult to set the benchmark, you’re basically running around with a cross on your back. Now we know what the level of performance is with the Ferrari, you see it every day on track, and that is something which we are very eager and we are very motivated to achieve.

“We are not going on a rest until we have done that.”

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 As a result, Mercedes is set to introduce their third specification engine as soon as the next race at Spa or potentially waiting a week later for the 'Temple of Speed' at Monza, either way, the push for performance is on.

“Andy Cowell [Mercedes’ engine boss] and his troops, including the chassis integration team around it, will leave no stone unturned in order to match that," the Austrian continued.

“We would rather go up in flames than not match the performance.”

Doing that though could have major consequences...

“At the end, a retirement is going to kill you in the championship much more than the ultimate last tenth of performance," Wolff admitted.

“It’s very complex to extract more performance in the level that we need to be sufficient, but it’s a challenging target.”

Technical director James Allison also believes Ferrari can be beaten another way.

"The development race over the remainder of the season, who stays strong, who doesn't make mistakes, who can keep their chin up the longest ... all the clichés you want to roll out, that is actually what is going to determine this utterly compelling and brilliant year," he claimed.

"None of us know, none of our opposition knows who it's going to favour and that's what makes it so exciting."

Nico Hulkenberg is under no illusions of the challenge that faces him alongside Daniel Ricciardo at Renault in 2019, but only sees his arrival as "positive".

Last Friday came the surprising news that the Australian would be leaving Red Bull after five years for a "fresh challenge" at the French manufacturer, replacing his current stablemate Carlos Sainz.

While the response to his decision has been mixed, for the German, it is an opportunity to once again live up to his reputation as a great driver who has never had the chance to race at the front.

“Daniel is a great driver and a man who can do everything," Hulkenberg told Bild.

“I do not have to hide from the challenge that awaits me, but for me, having such a great teammate is only positive."

“It also shows how serious Renault is if you’re one of the drivers to get the top three in.”

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Despite winning the Le Mans 24 Hours with Porsche in 2015, Hulkenberg holds the dubious record of the most F1 starts without a podium finish after spent much of his career in the midfield at teams like Williams, Sauber and Force India.

His switch to Renault last season was seen as his last chance to reach the potential many believe he has, but with easily one of the top six best drivers on the grid now expected to drive the French manufacturer forward, it will be interesting to see how the 'Hulk' responds.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has ruled out signing Fernando Alonso to fill the seat vacated by the Renault-bound Daniel Ricciardo for 2019.

As is always the case when a top driver becomes available, the double world champion is immediately linked because of his undoubted skill and his current lack of competitiveness with McLaren.

The problem nowadays is internal politics with the Spaniard's history working against him, with team bosses unwilling to risk him becoming a disrupting influence alongside another top name and that is the case again with Red Bull.

“I’ve got huge respect for Fernando, he’s a great driver, a fantastic driver,” team boss Christian Horner told the official Formula 1 podcast.

“But I think it’d be very difficult to see. He’s tended to cause a bit of chaos wherever he’s gone. I’m not sure it would be the healthiest thing for Fernando to join the team.

“I think our preference would be to continue to invest in youth than take a driver who is obviously close to the end of his career.”

The end of Alonso's F1 career could come as soon as the end of this year with McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently weighing up the possibility the 37-year-old could move full-time to IndyCar.

“He’s very interested,” Brown said in an interview with the Indianapolis Star. “He likes the series but hasn’t decided yet what he wants to do as it relates to F1.

“He thinks it (IndyCar) is great racing. He loves the Indy 500. So I think he very much enjoyed that experience. He’s a racer. He likes to race."

The main motivation would be to add the Indianapolis 500 to his Monaco GP and Le Mans 24 Hours wins and become just the second driver ever to complete motorsport's Triple Crown, but the McLaren chief does think it runs a little deeper than that.

“I think winning not only the Triple Crown but all three series (F1, IndyCar, WEC), he probably finds intriguing," he added.

"He likes the racing in IndyCar, it’s extremely competitive, and he likes America, so I know it’s something he would consider.”

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• Ex-McLaren driver Pedro de la Rosa doesn't want Sainz to partner Alonso
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In F1, the Spaniard's future could well be the next big decision to affect the driver market after Ricciardo's surprise move.

With names like Esteban Ocon, Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz all potentially looking for seats, having one if not two of those drivers at Woking in 2019 could be a possibility.

Lewis Hamilton believes Ferrari does hold the pace advantage over Mercedes at this stage of the season but puts his recent success down to better performance.

The reigning champion ended July with two straight wins in Germany and Hungary, both times benefitting from rain as main rival Sebastian Vettel crashed out at Hockenheim before both he and teammate Valtteri Bottas jumped ahead in a wet qualifying at the Hungaroring.

As a result, Hamilton holds a 24-point lead with nine races to go, the largest margin seen all year, and now he hopes to sustain it.

"As I said before I think Ferrari have had a slightly better package but we've delivered ours better and hopefully that will make the difference,'' the 33-year-old was quoted by F1i.com.

"Hopefully in this second part of the season, we will be able to upgrade our package so it's a little bit stronger than theirs and if we keep bringing that 'A game' then hopefully they'll have no return to our ace serve."

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• Hamilton: Ferrari pit error likely saved Hungarian GP win
• Webber: Vettel still susceptible to Baku-style 'meltdowns'

Now in the midst of the summer break, the competitive order could well change again when teams bring more upgrades to the Belgian Grand Prix later this month, for Hamilton too, these four weeks can also be about personal improvement.

"Each year you do something different in your break,'' said the four-time world champion. "You use and conserve your energy in a different way. I think I've got a good setup generally though this break.

"The race physically I am good but there's always areas you can improve, there's always things you can improve on. I am not going to say what they are but I am going to be working on some of those things through this break.

"There's still going to be some studying. I just got to keep working hard. We've got to keep improving."

COO Otmar Szafnauer is thrilled a period of "anxiety" and "trepidation" is over after a consortium backed by Lawrence Stroll rescued Force India from administration this week.

The Silverstone-backed squad entered the process of looking for new owners on the Friday at the Hungarian Grand Prix after a claim for unpaid bills by driver Sergio Perez and backed by Mercedes.

It was insisted the move was to guarantee the future of Force India, who were facing a winding-up order which would have put them out of business, and that has now been secured.

“This outcome secures the future of the Force India team in Formula 1 and will allow our team of racers to compete to our full potential,” Szafnauer said when the news broke on Tuesday.

“I am delighted that we have the support of a consortium of investors who believe in us as a team and who see the considerable business potential that Force India has within F1 now and in the future.

“At Force India, our expertise and commitment has meant that we have always punched above our weight and this new investment ensures that we have a bright future ahead of us."

Though the situation surrounding the team was always considered less serious than the likes of HRT, Caterham and Manor, all of which entered F1 in 2010 but were gone by 2016, memories of their demise did weigh on the 400+ employees.

"There was a lot of trepidation amongst all the team members, and a lot of anxiety, because we didn’t know where it was going to go," the American chief added.

"It’s a huge relief to know there’s a future for the team. We’ll be able to continue as a normal Formula 1 team."

Also Read:

• Development at Force India on hold during search for new owners
• Renault blocking Force India aid over concerns of Mercedes influence

While the investment is guaranteed, a final agreement to buy the team from Vijay Mallya remains a final hurdle, Szafnauer is confident it is all procedural, however, as he considered where Force India goes from here.

"It’s early days, I would hope they would keep the senior management on," he said. "This just happened, I haven’t sat down with the new owners to say ‘what do you want to do?’.

"In the near future, we’ll have all those conversations. But that’s looking forwards, not looking backwards."

With Lawrence Stroll at the helm, it is widely expected his son Lance will be following his father out of Williams at the end of the season.

Force India COO Otmar Szafnauer has revealed all development of the current VJM11 is currently on hold as the team awaits the outcome of the administration process.

The Silverstone-based outfit went into the administration during the Hungarian Grand Prix weekend after a claim was brought forward by driver Sergio Perez and backed by Mercedes and sponsor BWT over unpaid bills.

Perez insisted that was done to save the team which was facing a winding-up order as legal troubles for owner Vijay Mallya continue, but it is now taking its toll on the track.

“The designs are done. It is just a matter of paying suppliers to start building the tools and making the car parts,” Szafnauer said told Motorsport.com.

“It doesn’t happen overnight, but we will be able to implement those plans. We should be able to have some good updates, hopefully a significant one, but only time will tell.”

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• Renault blocking Force India aid over concerns of Mercedes influence

After finishing 'best of the rest' in the Constructors' Championship the past two years, now Force India are sixth, 23 points behind Renault who now hold that position in fourth with both drivers finishing outside the points in Hungary.

“Finishing 13th and 14th isn’t great,” Szafnauer admitted.

“We weren’t that far off, maybe two to three tenths off some of the midfield runners. But we just didn’t have the pace.”

Formula 1 CEO Chase Carey believes the promotion of the sport's drivers as "heroes" is why last month's German Grand Prix got a much better reception.

With F1 only visiting Hockenheim biannually it was the first time the American owners had visited the iconic circuit and speaking to people in the paddock, Carey claims the consensus he got was the sport is "more fun" than it was in 2016.

What was notable was the larger crowd which filled the Stadium section, combined with a mix of red for Sebastian Vettel and orange for Max Verstappen, and it the attraction of those names which the CEO consider crucial.

"Formula 1 is about heroes who spark the imagination, kind of like in the movies," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport.

"You have strong brands and important teams, but in the end, it's all about the drivers as the main characters. Max Verstappen is a hero because of his driving skills, that's something that touches and inspires people."

Liberty Media's efforts to close the gap between teams, drivers and the fans is another reason, with attendances rising at races around the world.

"It's too early to celebrate," Carey continued. "Still, we're on the right path to improve the show both on and off the track. We've seen a couple of good races and the competition at the top is very close."

In an ideal scenario, the F1 chief also hopes he can draw on the pulling power of one iconic motorsport name making its way through the ranks.

"The role of Michael Schumacher is still big in F1 nowadays. He is and remains an icon for the sport," he said.

"It should be easier for young drivers to move on to Formula 1, it would be special if [his son] Mick also had that possibility."

Currently, the 19-year-old competes in European F3, recently winning his first race at Spa Francorchamps, a circuit his father made plenty of history on.

Talking to Mobil 1 The Grid, Schumacher Jr. spoke about the pressure he faces to live up to his surname.

“To be honest, here I’m a bit more focused on what I’m doing on track, so I don’t really notice it too much,” he said.

“For sure, my goal was always F1, and it’s still my goal. Now we’re doing one step after the other. I’m looking forward to it.”

Williams and Mercedes are in talks to partly expand their partnership with the latter adding gearboxes to their current engine supply deal, motorsport boss Toto Wolff has revealed.

As the Grove-based team has struggled during 2018, currently bottom of the Constructors' Championship with just four points in 12 races, many have wondered if closer ties to the German manufacturer could be a way of boosting performance.

Given Williams' proud history as a successful independent team, technical director Paddy Lowe, formerly team boss at Mercedes, has rejected such an idea, that view though may be loosening slightly.

“Formula 1 is changing," he admitted. "Force India were one of the early ones to abandon the full constructor definition that teams had historically followed of essentially making everything except an engine.

“We’ve seen more and more teams adopting gearboxes from elsewhere. Now we have the Haas model where you adopt everything that is not listed.

“We have our eyes open to all of those possibilities because we owe it to ourselves. You’ve got to move with the times and do the best thing for the performance of the team."

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Wolff then confirmed the possibility, telling the official F1 website: “They are an engine client of ours. It’s not a huge thing to increase that to a gearbox. We are in discussions about doing that.

“Nothing is signed, nothing is done and we need to decide in the next few weeks because the chassis design is at an advanced stage for Williams, so we’ll see how that pans out."

Toro Rosso team boss Franz Tost is convinced the progress of Honda will see Red Bull able to fight for wins in 2019.

The Japanese manufacturer has been making strong gains this season both in performance and reliability, even if both Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley are well above their allocation of parts for the season.

It is this which convinced Red Bull to leave Renault after 12 years and make the switch for next season, though is also believed to be partly why Daniel Ricciardo chose to leave for the French manufacturer.

Having had the experience of working with Honda though, Tost insists it has only been positive.

"Our collaboration with Honda is fantastic," he told Spain's Marca newspaper. "Honda is a very good and very serious company and they have improved a lot compared to last year."

Comparisons are often drawn between Honda and Renault, with claims that the former has now almost caught up with the latter, and with a bigger base than the French manufacturer, Tost sees more potential.

"Honda is a very successful company that wants to win races," said the Austrian.

"In Canada, we had an improvement that gave us three tenths. We will have another in America and in 2019 there will be more. I am convinced that the power unit will be very competitive."

Also Read:

• Verstappen: Non-works team status leaves Red Bull "two races behind" rivals
• Red Bull: Honda partnership has more potential than with Renault
• Red Bull won't use Toro Rosso as test bench for Honda, says Horner

Pierre Gasly, who has scored three top-six finishes this season, also sees the chance to work with a top team like Red Bull as additional motivation for Honda.

“To have four cars instead of two is always better in terms of development and also with such a big team as Red Bull, we know how big and how strong they are," he told RaceFans.

“For sure, they’re going to push Honda massively in the direction so if we can share all our strengths together for sure it’s going to be positive.

“I think also the work for next year will be starting now because all the improvements we can make at the moment will be useful for Red Bull next year.”

The Frenchman may also have the chance to be in the RB15 with rumours he could be chosen over Carlos Sainz for a promotion in the face of opposition to the Spaniard from Max Verstappen.

Max Verstappen believes that because Renault prioritises their works team over Red Bull for delivering engine upgrades, that leaves his team "two races behind" their rivals.

The Milton Keynes outfit was previously the main technical partner for the French manufacturer, however, that changed in 2016 when the company bought the remains of the old Lotus team to return as a full operation.

Since then, a worsening relationship with Red Bull has resulted in a split at the end of 2018 with the Anglo-Austrian outfit switching to Honda from next year in a partnership that will see them become a defacto works team once again.

In the meantime, Verstappen simply sees his squad at a disadvantage with Renault.

“If there are new parts, they will, of course, go to the factory team first, which is also logical but it’s a pity for us,” he was quoted by PlanetF1.

“You just know that at Ferrari and Mercedes these are immediately introduced and then they might have advantage of that for one or two races, before the rest takes a step.

“So, we are always two races behind.”

Also Read:

• Verstappen blocking Red Bull plan to promote Sainz for 2019 - report
• Daniel Ricciardo to leave Red Bull for Renault in 2019

Tensions between Red Bull and Renault only heightened following the Hungarian Grand Prix when another engine-related retirement resulted in team boss Christian Horner blasting a sub-standard product, with his counterpart at Enstone, Cyril Abiteboul, hitting back.

For Verstappen now, it is simply about seeing out this season while trying to remain as competitive as possible.

“Now that it’s certain that you are making the switch to Honda, that will not work in your favour, let’s put it like that," he claimed. “But that’s how these things work, and we know that, so you just need to accept it.

“I hope we will continue to develop the car well," he added. “The engine is a difficult story.

“We are better than them [Mercedes and Ferrari] in terms of the car, so car-wise they are the ones who need to catch up.”