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Teams will be forced to have a minimum driver weight of 80kg from 2019 under a proposal agreed by the Formula 1 Commission.

It was one of the only agreements to come out of the Strategy Group meeting early last week, which also involved further talks on the engine and financial changes for 2021, and is aimed at reducing the penalty for heavier drivers on the grid.

Since the introduction of the hybrid engines in 2014, sticking to the minimum weight has proved troublesome for the teams and that means drivers have often had to reduce weight to compensate, some even raced without a drinks bottle on board in extreme cases.

This year, the problem is even greater with the arrival of halo and the device is heavier than the six kilograms added on to the minimum weight of the car in this year's regulations to accommodate it.

Under the idea given the go-ahead, 80kg of the 734kg minimum must be designated for the driver and for those under that figure, ballast must be added but that can be placed wherever a team wishes.

The inclusion of the driver in the overall weight of the car began in 1995, back then, to prove how much heavier the current machines are, the minimum was 595kg.

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Pirelli's motorsport chief Mario Isola is hoping the Italian tyre supplier can agree a new contract to produce Formula 1 rubber beyond the current deal which expires in 2019.

Since returning in 2011, the company has regularly been in the spotlight due to some concerns some have expressed over the quality both of their slick and wet compounds.

 

Nevertheless, Pirelli insists they remain fully committed to F1 and now want to continue as the sole supplier, likely until 2022 with their past contracts all lasting three years in length.

“I am sure we will start discussing the new contract because it’s not a secret that Mr Tronchetti [Provera, Pirelli CEO] said we want to continue," Isola told F1 Fanatic. "There are a lot of new ideas, a lot of plans."

The opportunity to work with managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn is also enthusing Pirelli to stay on, as he tests out ideas to improve the racing from 2021 onwards.

“Now that he is in FOM, Liberty, he has a team of people working with him. We are very well connected with them so when they need data when they need analysis for the future, we work together,” Isola said.

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One thing Pirelli isn't keen on, however, is a return to the tyre wars of the 2000's believing that doing so would be detrimental to competition and raise costs.

"At the moment, we supply the same product to all teams. So we put all the teams on the same level, in terms of tyres," the motorsport boss said at the Autosport International event recently.

"If you open competition, you increase the costs because you need to test and you will have top teams with a better product compared to the midfield or lower teams as you don't have any obligation to supply the same tyres to everybody."

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Ferrari's status as the most powerful team on the grid is being threatened after FIA president Jean Todt revealed their long-held power to veto rule changes in Formula 1 could be revoked.

The Scuderia enjoys a number of privileges as the sport's most prestigious and longest serving brand, however, two of them, their $100m payment and now the ability to block proposed changes are both being targeted as part of the shakeup by F1 owners Liberty Media.

"When we are going to discuss the renewal of the [Concorde] agreement, it is part of the things which will be discussed," the former Ferrari boss said, with the current deal expiring in 2020.

This would likely only add fuel to the fire of discontent at Maranello, with chairman Sergio Marchionne already threatening to quit over the proposed engine changes put forward starting, along with the new Concorde Agreement, in 2021.

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Todt remains sure, however, that Ferrari won't carry out on that threat because the fallout would hurt them as much as F1

"I don’t want to see Ferrari leaving," he said. "I’m not sure if it would be a good thing for Ferrari to leave F1 because, why it is a unique brand? It is because it’s such combined between racing and road cars."

"I think it will be also painful for Ferrari not to be in F1, but that’s not my responsibility anymore. Am I afraid to see Mercedes or Ferrari leave? That’s their choice."

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Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul has expressed his happiness at seeing both Sergey Sirotkin and Robert Kubica earning opportunities at Williams for the 2018 Formula 1 season.

Sirotkin, who will race alongside Lance Stroll, completed six practice appearances during his two-year spell as reserve driver at Enstone, while Kubica, now reserve and developmental driver at the British team, initially completed a number of tests with Renault during last summer as he looked to make a much hoped for return to F1.

"I’m happy to see drivers we had connections with raising their profile and raising their skills," he said while introducing the French manufacturer's group of young drivers for 2018 earlier this week."

Though there has been some disappointment that it was the Russian who beat the Pole to the race seat, with many believing the decision was financial, Abiteboul insists Sirotkin is more than capable as a driver.

"For Sergey, it shows Renault can influence the life of a driver and then if they can make it into F1," the team boss claimed.

"We were very impressed as a team by his ability to understand the car and the dynamics of the car and he certainly has the knowledge and in my opinion also the talent."

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1992 F1 champion Nigel Mansell is also easing concerns over what is the youngest line-up on the grid this year, with Stroll and Sirotkin a combined 41 years old.

"In years gone by, without the computer aids, I'd be concerned by two young drivers in the team," the Williams legend told Motorsport.com.

"That is not so much the case now with so many support engineers and so much information."

After being in the mix regularly with Red Bull and Ferrari in the early years of the current hybrid formula, the Grove-based team has struggled in recent years, falling behind Force India and now facing further threats from the likes of Renault and McLaren.

"I hope the car is good and that there'll be some races where they can shine. I hope they don't fall down the grid," Mansell added.

The Briton does see the presence of a former Grand Prix winner in Kubica as a positive, however, believing his knowledge could be invaluable to the two men behind the wheel.

"It depends how much experience a driver has got of winning and competing at a high level," he stated.

"I find it interesting having been teammates with world champions and working with all of them closely, you tend to learn an awful lot real quick. You have more insight. It always interests me to get someone else's perspective."

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Cosworth boss Bruce Wood admits there is a "certain logic" to his company teaming up with Aston Martin and helping the British luxury carmaker join Formula 1 as an engine supplier from 2021.

Aston has been one of the more vocal companies in revealing their ambition to take advantage of a simplifying and cheapening of the current hybrid engines which owners Liberty Media hope to introduce in three years time, after increasing their presence by becoming title sponsor at Red Bull starting this year.

However, without the resources of Renault or Ferrari and with Cosworth also wanting to return to the sport, Wood believes it makes a lot of sense for the two to join forces, with preliminary talks reportedly taking place.

"We've done a lot of work with Aston for many years, we're working very closely with Red Bull and the team for the Valkyrie [hypercar], so there's a certain logic to it," he said, speaking to Motorsport.com.

"Aston have been very clear that they want to be doing something more than just badging someone else's engine. They also don't aspire to design it all themselves, so there's a natural fit there and that's where some of those discussions are happening.

"There's definitely a desire to do something together."

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Much like Aston, however, the final decision will depend on the financial viability of an F1 project and that may mean even 2021 is too soon for a partnership to come together.

"It isn't like when we were owned by Ford as a cost centre to put Jaguar on the F1 grid. Anything has to be profitable and certainly, that is easier to do if you're sharing those costs with someone else," the Cosworth boss continued.

"Our view is it would be a huge investment for whoever was going to do it and it probably isn't realistic to get everything in place for 2021 but that doesn't make us think we should forget it. It just makes us think about how 2022 would work."

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The launch dates of two of Formula 1's most anticipated cars in 2018 have been confirmed with Mercedes and McLaren making announcements on Thursday.

The four-time defending world champions will unveil their latest creation, the W09, on February 22, which is also the same day as their main rival from last year Ferrari.

Meanwhile, McLaren, who many tip to be a thorn in the side of the top three teams this season, will reveal the MCL33 a day later on February 23, likely at their base in Woking.

Expectations are the British team will return to the papaya shade of orange, seen on the IndyCar Fernando Alonso raced with at Indianapolis, which is the traditional racing colour used by founder Bruce McLaren on his early cars.

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It will also be the first McLaren powered by a Renault power unit, after splitting with Honda following three poor seasons, but the designers have had to overcome a few hurdles to integrate the French manufacturer's engine.

"The Renault architecture is very different," technical director Tim Goss told Motorsport.com. "You have two fundamental engine architectures out there; the Mercedes/ Honda approach and you have got the Ferrari/ Renault approach.

"We had to reconfigure the chassis, change the cooling system and reconfigure the gearbox to make it fit," he added. "But we've managed that in time without any significant compromise to the chassis. It was quite a big change.

"In the end, we were fortunate that the decision to move from one engine to another was made just in time. It couldn't have been made any later."

The team which will take on the Honda engines, Toro Rosso, have also revealed the covers of the STR13 will be taken off on February 25 in Barcelona, the evening before the first test begins and likely a time many teams will opt for with all F1 media in attendance. 

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Dieter Zetsche, the boss of Mercedes' parent company Daimler, has claimed the German manufacturer and Ferrari share the same view regarding the future of Formula 1, as battle lines are drawn with owners Liberty Media.

While not being quite so public with their threat as the Italian brand, motorsport boss Toto Wolff has previously stated the winner's of the last four championships would be prepared to follow the Scuderia in leaving the sport if they didn't agree with the vision it was taken in.

Concerns that new engine rules are too limiting and leading to standardisation, as well as efforts to address F1's financial inequality, lay at the heart of the current tensions and, as Zetsche admits, though Mercedes and Ferrari might be rivals on the track, off it the situation is very different.

"We are 100 percent aligned on our thoughts in F1 and our strategic actions in F1," he told Autocar at the Detroit motor show. "We are good friends.

"We are there to stay in F1 but of course the platform itself has to stay meaningful and develop positively."

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Despite all of Mercedes' recent success, the Daimler chief also wants to see greater competition in F1, believing their domination in winning is harming the sport.

"I have said many times the best outcome would be winning the championship by one point in the last race," he claimed

"To be clear, we want to be successful and we want the platform to be successful and when one is dominant that doesn't help. 

"We need stronger competitors and rule changes which give new cars to everybody and to some extent, this last season was that change."

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Former Formula 1 driver Karun Chandhok believes Robert Kubica had "plenty of opportunities" to prove himself worthy of a seat on the 2018 grid.

It was confirmed on Tuesday, that Sergey Sirotkin had been chosen by Williams to replace Felipe Massa, with the Pole earning the position of reserve and development driver for the upcoming season.

Having already tested both the 2012 and 2017 Renault during the summer before Carlos Sainz made the switch and later running the 2014 and 2017 Williams as he pushed for a much-anticipated return, Chandhok believes Kubica can't really complain.

"It's a shame, but I think they gave him plenty of opportunities to really prove that he deserves a seat in a meritocratic way," the Indian driver turned pundit said at the Autosport International last week, as Sirotkin had been widely expected to earn the Williams drive.

"I can't think of many other drivers who have had this many opportunities with two teams and I don't think you can say he hasn't had a fair chance to be evaluated."

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It is believed the data from the post-season test in Abu Dhabi last November showed the Russian as the slightly faster of the two drivers with Kubica also understood to be struggling with the Pirelli tyres

"The reality is teams can't hire drivers based on the past, they have to hire drivers based on their circumstances and their performance today," Chandhok added. "It's a shame for the sport and for Robert obviously that it's not worked out."

Fans didn't take the disappointment too well and many agree that Sirotkin's extra financial backing was decisive, offering around double that Kubica could manage.

"I think it's more down to the bank balance that he's missing out at the end of the day," technical analyst Gary Anderson commented.

"I believe in his talent. I don't think you can actually just jump into a Renault F1 car or a Williams F1 car for a one-day test as such and just drive the wheels off it.

"The long-run pace was there and you know the one-lap pace will come because you just need to have confidence in the car around you."

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner had to reassure Daniel Ricciardo of equal status within the Milton Keynes outfit, following comments last year that teammate Max Verstappen should "build the team around him".

The Australian is entering a crucial year in his Formula 1 career with his contract with the Austrian energy drinks giant expiring and has made it clear he will be taking his time to weigh up his options with the next few season's likely his best chance to become champion.

As well as the competitiveness of Red Bull, Ricciardo is also having to consider his standing in the team as Verstappen continues his own rise as one of the sport's top drivers, with the 28-year-old admitting his boss' comments weren't helpful.

"That is not what you want to hear," he told Autosport. "I didn't see it in the press but afterwards I found out about Christian's comment."

The five-time Grand Prix winner revealed it was Horner himself that told him about his Verstappen claim and sought to clarify the situation.

"He said 'look, if you've seen the comments, it's not out of context but I didn't want it to come across that way'," Ricciardo claimed.

"He said 'please I don't want you to think anything like that. We're fighting for both of you'."

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The current uncertainty over his future may not help the 'Honey Badger' though, especially with the Dutchman signed on a very lucrative contract until 2020, but he maintains trust in Red Bull to remain impartial.

"If I did, I would have spoken up about it already," he added. "That's 100 percent honest."

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Kevin Magnussen has played down any regrets after leaving the Renault team at the end of 2016 and seeing the progress the team has made in the last 12 months.

The Dane got his second chance in Formula 1 with the French manufacturer but after a tough year and uncertainty over his future opted to join Haas for last season with the now-axed Jolyon Palmer staying on instead.

He would watch on, however, as Renault moved from near the back to arguably the fastest midfield team at the end of 2017, despite only finishing sixth in the constructors' championship while the American team would be down in eighth.

"Renault is doing well, but I just feel very good here and I feel that we can improve and take the fight to Renault next year if we get everything right," Magnussen told Motorsport.com.

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The former McLaren driver has also praised Haas as a proper racing team without the distractions and despite failing to make progress up the grid in their second season, sees their future as similar to another privateer team. 

"I'm very confident we can go forward, Force India is showing that," he claimed, with the Silverstone outfit finishing fourth in the teams' standings for a second straight year last year.

"If you look at Force India's first couple of seasons in F1, as a new team we've raced and done better, so it's looking good and I think the team is going in the right direction."

Haas' technical partnership with Ferrari certainly gave them a good leg up into F1 in 2016, but now, entering their third year, the pressure will be on to score points more regularly and make their way up the midfield ranks. 

 

         

 

 

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