Sebastian Vettel is confident his Ferrari team will maintain the form they showed last season and make further progress after coming up short in their championship bid.

The Italian team was the revelation of last year, using the new rules to become regular contenders to Mercedes and resulting in the first head to head between Lewis Hamilton and the four-time world champion for the title.

However, small but decisive errors by Vettel and reliability problems at just the wrong time saw the imperious Brackley-based team canter to a fourth successive double championship success.

"The step that we have done in 2017 was incredible. The way the team has come out with a competitive car at the beginning, the way we have improved on all fronts I think it has been outstanding," the German claimed.

"We have been close for most of the year but not close enough when it mattered, but that's what happened. From that, we made our conclusions, we learned our lessons and I believe that those will help us next year. We are completely fired up."

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With Mercedes already sending messages of further progress with the engine and chassis and the likes of Red Bull and even McLaren entering the fight, Vettel knows Ferrari face a tough task this season.

"Everybody will be pushing very hard over the winter but I think we have what we need," he said. "It all starts again in 2018, so let's see. I think we know what we need to do. 

"There are lessons that were obvious, some were a bit more hidden but I'm sure we'll dig deep enough and try to find all of them."

Though a return to racing in Formula 1 will have to wait a little longer, Robert Kubica could still be in the paddock as Williams official reserve driver for 2018, according to a media report.

The Pole was hoping to take the race seat vacated by the now-retired Felipe Massa for this season, completing a number of tests in the 2014 car in October before running in last year's Williams a the post-season test in Abu Dhabi.

However, now Sergey Sirotkin is set to be announced any day amid lingering concerns over Kubica's pace as well as the much larger financial backing the Russian possesses.

"The decision will be very quickly formalised," French newspaper L'Equipe was quoted as saying on Friday. "Kubica will be offered a test driver role, probably with a few Friday morning test sessions at a number of Grands Prix."

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Hiring the 32-year-old in that position could tie in with a claim by the BBC earlier this week which suggested an inability to optimise the performance of the Pirelli tyres hampered the former Grand Prix winner and was also part of Williams' call to sign Sirotkin.

Mario Isola, the motorsport boss at the Italian supplier, seemed to back up that statement too, telling Racer Kubica should be given more time to get to grips with the current generation of cars and tyres.

"You cannot pretend that any driver [in his situation] jumping in a car will be quicker than a driver who was involved in many tests or many races," he said. "Give him the time to adapt and to show us the full potential. I believe he is still a very quick driver.

"I believe that Robert is a professional driver with a lot of experience, he has the feeling. Obviously, I was asking him for some opinions on the tyres and he has a precise idea of the performance, degradation, how to drive and so on."

The return of Brendon Hartley into the Red Bull family and the Toro Rosso team suggests the driver program is "not as intense" as before, former driver Mark Webber has claimed.

Known for their cut-throat approach that has seen names like Jean-Eric Vergne and Sebastien Buemi fail to make the grade, the talent pool has shrunk in recent times with only the recently acquired Dan Ticktum a well-rated member not currently in F1.

It was for that reason when it was decided Daniil Kvyat had had enough opportunities, Red Bull turned to Hartley - who they dropped in 2010 - after he approached motorsport advisor Helmut Marko about giving him another chance following success with Porsche in the WEC.

"I think Red Bull softened a little bit," Webber told Motorsport.com. "It's not as maybe as intense as it was in the former years and maybe this opportunity [for Hartley] would not have come about.

"It is a different environment. It's much calmer – which is I see only an upside."

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Looking back at some of the names who have made it to F1 after a strong junior career only to see their star fade, the Australian puts that down to the very different demands of competing in the 'pinnacle of motorsport'.

"In F1, I think it's a bit like a Michelin star restaurant whereas a chef you have to be an expert in many different dishes," he said. "In the junior categories, you don't. You have to be an expert in one or two dishes.

"F1 is like a very, very tough test for the driver envelope of operation and your ability to work with people. In junior categories, if you're fast, you can still do the results, but later on you need to have mind management and the composure."

Cosworth has admitted it is "unlikely" they could return to Formula 1 as an independent engine supplier in 2021, despite reportedly being involved in shaping the new regulations.

The British company left the sport at the end of the V8 era in 2013 but has been re-evaluating the landscape following the desire of new owners Liberty Media to bring in cheaper, simpler and noisier engines.

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A first concept was revealed last October and has been praised by independent teams and interested parties while current manufacturers Ferrari and Mercedes threatened to quit F1 if it was implemented.

"First off, we'd love to be there [in F1]," Bruce Wood, Cosworth's managing director of powertrains said at the Autosport International show on Thursday.

"The rules as they are being proposed would certainly technically facilitate Cosworth coming back into it and will bring down the cost barrier to entry. [But] it's unlikely you will see a completely independent Cosworth on the 'if you build it they will come' [basis] because the economics of that are hard to make work."

The engine maker is, however, open to becoming a partner to a manufacturer that decides to enter F1 under the 2021 regulations, which are still being discussed, with names like Aston Martin and Porsche previously mentioned. 

Pirelli motorsport boss Mario Isola believes lap times in Formula 1 will be around 1.5 seconds faster than those set in 2017 as rapid development continues in the second season of the current regulations.

Last year the sport saw the sharpest reduction in lap times in quite some years as two decades of slowing the cars down was reversed with higher downforce and wider tyres all designed to produce more grip.

Lap records were broken at every circuit except Monza, due to a wet qualifying session, but Isola believes they won't last as long as their predecessors with some dating back to the V10 era.

"We will have faster lap times this year because we should consider the development of the car that is probably roughly one second per lap as an average," he said at the Autosport International show.

“Plus the fact that especially at the beginning of the season we are planning to use softer compounds [compared to 2017], so in my expectation, we should be quicker compared to last year by 1.5s per lap by average, it’s a lot, it’s another big step.”

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Though the cars should be quicker, Pirelli is actually going more aggressive with their tyres after the initial product created last year was too conservative and resulted in one-stop races at almost every event.

A new hypersoft compound will also be introduced, though its use is likely to be limited to just the slowest and/ or least grippy circuits after initial testing was done in Abu Dhabi.

“The Hypersoft was one second quicker than the Ultrasoft so it’s quite an extreme compound," Isola claimed, comparing lap times around the Yas Marina Circuit.

"Monaco is probably the race where we’re going to use it for the first time. The performance is great but also the degradation will be high, it’s the normal trade-off between performance, degradation and wear.

"It’s accepted as it’s a very soft compound and that’s why we are taking three compounds to each event.”

Former Williams technical director Pat Symonds has revealed Formula 1 bosses are using the eSports platform to test out potential future rule changes.

Symonds joined the working group headed by managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn to look into ways of improving the racing, whether it be changing the aerodynamics of the cars or sporting regulations.

It is part of a promise Brawn made that no regulation changes would be introduced under his watch without proper evaluation, following previous failures under the previous leadership.

ESports is also a new concept for F1, having held the first championship last year, but its uses are now moving beyond just a chance for the fastest racers to compete against each other.

"We're keen to use virtual environments to test some of these regulations," Symonds was quoted by Autosport. "What we can do then is look at statistics. It gives you a chance to do things you can't otherwise simulate in an easy manner."

The Briton would then offer an example of the current research being done using the technology.

"For a number of years, the starting grid for F1 has been a staggered formation but it used to not be like that, there was a time when cars started two abreast, there was a time when - we've got a photo in our boardroom in London where I think it's Monza - there are four cars on the front row," he explained.

"What would happen if we did that again? It's not the sort of thing you can simulate easily. [Now,] we can go to our eSports group and we can say 'look guys, let's change the grid, let's do 20 races' then we see what happens.

"Are we going to get a much more exciting first lap or are we going to get a huge collision on corner one? It gives us our evidence-based form of decision-making, a mantra I preach quite regularly."

Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner has suggested that while signing an American driver is an ambition for the US outfit, they would only be selected if they were "ready" for Formula 1.

The arrival of Gene Haas' team in 2016 was seen as a big step forward for the sport which, despite recent strong growth, has never matched the likes of IndyCar and NASCAR for interest in the States.

However, the potential marketing opportunity for an American driver to race in an American team has yet to be taken advantage, with 2016 Indy 500 winner Alexander Rossi the last to compete in F1 - completing several races with Manor at the end of the 2015 season.

"It's on top of our list if there's a good one. Obviously, we want one," Steiner told Autosport. "[However,] just having an American driver who maybe cannot compete at a certain level is maybe not good for the sport.

"At the moment there is nobody ready for F1 in the United States in my opinion."

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The Haas boss also argued whether the team, which has finished eighth in their first two seasons in the constructors' championship, would be attractive enough for an American driver, pointing to the ambitions of their current line-up of Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen.

"They are both worthy of staying," said Steiner. "Do either of them want to stay? That's the next thing, there is a lot of factors which come into that.

"People want to say we take somebody else, but no. We're not. We are fine," he concluded.

Sauber is set to make a "big step forward" in 2018 team principal Fred Vasseur has claimed after a number of major problems left the Swiss team bottom of the constructors' championship last year.

The former Renault boss replaced Monisha Kaltenborn at the helm of the Hinwil-based outfit midway through last season and has been tasked with leading the rebuilding of an operation which almost collapsed due to financial problems just two years ago.

Under the ownership of Longbow Finance for the last 18 months, a company with ties to driver Marcus Ericsson, Sauber is now starting to get back on its feet, but, as Vasseur explained, the impact on the team's competitiveness was long-lasting.  

"The 2017 car was ready very late. It was a new project and if you are six months late, it only adds to a difficult situation and it's very difficult to catch up," he told French publication Auto Hebdo.

"The decision to use the 2016 Ferrari engine last year also did not help," Vasseur added.

For this year, however, the outlook is much brighter, a whole new car is being designed under the guise of well-respected technical director Jorg Zander and Sauber has in man ways relaunched their relationship with Ferrari, taking on junior driver Charles Leclerc and welcoming Alfa Romeo back to F1 as title sponsor.

"Yes, there are many expectations and I think we have made some strong choices," the team boss claimed. "Above all with the engine, having the 2018 Ferrari engine will mean a big step forward for us and we have started with a new philosophy for the car."

Fernando Alonso has heaped praise on McLaren executive director Zak Brown for his "wider vision of motorsport" which is enabling the double Formula 1 world champion to compete in other series.

Last year, it began with the Spaniard escaping the misery of another difficult year with Honda to attempt the Indianapolis 500 as part of a tie-up between the British team and Andretti Autosports, in 2018, Alonso will take part in the Daytona 24 Hours in two weeks time ahead of a possible Le Mans 24 Hours bid later with Toyota.

For many, it has brought back memories of when F1 drivers regularly raced in more than a single series and, the 36-year-old believes, it has also risen the profile of other racing categories.

"He’s a very unique boss. He has this wider vision of motorsport, he’s a commercial genius," Alonso said.

"He helped McLaren a lot in the last two years and now he’s not helping McLaren, I think he’s helping motorsport in general. So I completely share his vision. He’s not only my boss, he’s my friend as well."

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Though Lance Stroll and some reserve drivers have taken the opportunity to compete at Daytona as well, Alonso doubts it will start a trend of seeing F1 stars make one-off appearances elsewhere.

"I can do it because with Zak Brown and McLaren they have maybe a different vision," he stated. "We are expanding a little bit the McLaren brand as well in motorsport and we try to do it together.

"I think for other drivers in F1, it will be difficult to get that vision."

Pirelli sporting director Mario Isola has played down concerns the introduction of a wider tyre range for the 2018 Formula 1 season will add confusion for fans watching.

Last season, the Italian supplier was more conservative with their compounds as the sport introduced faster cars with greater downforce as well as widening the width of the tyres, however, the result was most races becoming easy one-stop strategies and less variation in lap times across a stint.

To enable drivers to continue pushing harder, Pirelli has only moved one step softer with the rubber, for instance, this season's supersoft will be last year's ultrasoft, but they have also produced two new compounds, the hypersoft and the superhard.

“I know that there were some criticisms around this choice to increase the number of compounds,” Isola told F1 Fanatic.

“I believe that with the additional compounds we have more flexibility and the opportunity to make a better selection in order to have the all the three compounds suitable for the race.

“The target is to have a bit more degradation to try to target two stops and different strategies.”

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Only three types of slick tyre will continue to be brought to each event, with the announcement on Thursday of the ultrasoft, supersoft and soft rubber being used for the fourth race of the season in Baku, and because that is not a change in the regulation, Pirelli believe it shouldn't impact the understanding of the viewer.

Their chief also believes it is correct that the tyre supplier should increase the knowledge of the fanbase by not simplifying the compounds to simply soft, medium and hard.

"We are not giving the right message because it looks like we are using the same compound for each event,” Isola said. “We want to explain to the spectators that in Monaco you need softer compounds and in Silverstone, you need harder compounds.”

Finally, he believes the fans do have a genuine interest in the thinking behind certain tyre choices and the individual compounds.

“It’s positive in a way because they’re talking about tyres,” Mario added. “Look at the example of the name of the hyper-soft, it’s incredible.”

“I wanted ‘mega-soft’, unfortunately, the spectators voted for ‘hyper’ so we have to respect their vote. Anyway, we had half a million interactions for the name of the tyre. It’s a huge number, it means they are interested.”