Formula 1 tyre supplier Pirelli will take the super-soft compound back to Monza for the Italian Grand Prix in September, it has been confirmed.

Last year saw the red-striped rubber make its debut at the 'Temple of Speed' and with the 2017 tyres proving highly durable, it is no surprise to see the softer direction taken once again.

The super-soft, soft and medium choices are the most commonly chosen so far with eight races having used or will use the same three compounds, with further races in Mexico, the United States and Brazil also likely to use allocation

Last week it was revealed that the ultra-soft tyre will be used at Belgium's Spa-Francorchamps circuit, therefore, the decision to take one step harder to Monza, a circuit basically consisting of long straights and slow corners, may surprise some.

However, as was the case at the last race in Baku, the loads on a tyre at speeds in excess of 340kph down the straight put tremendous stress on the construction of a tyre and that is something softer compounds are not designed to cope with.

This year F1 teams will also be greeted by a revised layout at Monza, with the first chicane taken out and the main straight lengthened before the drivers will kink right before the Curve Grande to a new chicane to be installed on the inside of the famous long right-hander, the remainder of the circuit will be the same as 2016.

McLaren may be in line for a boost as Honda will introduce the 'Spec 3' power unit at the next Grand Prix in Austria, following a test on Friday in Azerbaijan.

Both Stoffel Vandoorne and Fernando Alonso took heavy grid penalties in Baku to take on new, improved engine parts. However, Alonso would also test the full 'Spec 3' unit in practice before switching back to an older spec for the remainder of the weekend. 

Initial reports indicated the Spaniard as enjoying a 15kph boost along the two-kilometre main straight, although wing settings, fuel load and power modes are all variables toward that figure. If that was representative, however, it would eliminate all of the significant deficit McLaren has had to their rivals in qualifying this past weekend.

The main aim of the latest upgrade was to solve the vibration issues and problems with the ERS that have been responsible for most of the poor reliability this year, although it is very unrealistic to say one upgrade will indeed do so.

“For the next round in Austria, we are scheduled to bring our updated Spec 3 PU for both cars following the successful test here in Azerbaijan,” Honda F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa said.

“In the meantime, we will continue our development with our best efforts in order to continue closing the gap.”

It is very likely the introduction of the new Japanese engine could incur yet more grid penalties, though confirmation will come next week. 

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes a big result is on the horizon for Max Verstappen after a miserable run of four retirements in six races.

The latest came on Sunday in Baku as an engine failure saw the Dutchman have to return to the pits while challenging Sergio Perez for third. That followed a battery failure two weeks prior in Canada after a brilliant start had seen the 19-year-old move up to second. 

As it stands, Verstappen is sixth in the Drivers' championship just a single point clear of Sergio Perez's Force India and has the unfortunate tag of having completed the least number of race laps of any driver to have participated in every Grand Prix, including both McLaren's. 

What also hasn't helped, is team-mate Daniel Ricciardo has finished third, third, third and first in the last four races, accumulating the most points of any driver in the same period and that, Horner admits, is hurting Verstappen further.

"Right here and now, he's enormously frustrated," he said. "But what compounds that is that his team-mate has been getting podiums and now a victory.

"You can see it is through no fault of the team or the effort the team is putting in."

Going forward, given the pace that the Red Bull driver has shown between his problems, Horner adds: "He's had a few rough races where things haven't gone his way, but I just get the feeling that there's a big result just around the corner for him.

"He's driving so well at the moment, he's really stepped it up a gear. He's had a run of bad luck that will turn - it always does."

Horner also doubts there is a risk of the current woes impacting Verstappen's driving should they continue and that, after his amazing first 12 months with Red Bull, times like this are important as he continues to improve as a driver.

"He came to Baku and he's been on it all weekend. He's been massively impressive, particularly in the second sector so I don't think so," the Briton said. "He's a very mature 19-year-old.

"He's obviously hungry for success and he feels it, which is probably a good thing.

"He'll grow in his career from this current experience that's been tremendously frustrating for him and he'll come out even stronger - I've got no doubt about that."

Fernando Alonso could potentially be in the running for a surprise return to Ferrari for 2018 just four years after leaving the Italian team.

At the end of 2014, the Spaniard ended a fruitless stint with the Scuderia as they fell foul to the rise of Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull, to become part of a McLaren-Honda project that has since been even worse.

No podiums, scarce points and a lot of unreliability has been the story of Alonso's second stint at the British team, which he also joined in something of a shock return after his difficulties with Lewis Hamilton in 2007 and with his contract up at the end of the year, the double world champion is weighing up his options. 

Representatives, along with manager Flavio Briatore, were seen in talks at Renault and Mercedes in Baku this past weekend, but a potential return to Ferrari is now being talked up.

"He always got along with everyone and only had problems with [former Ferrari boss Marco] Mattiacci," Briatore told Italian radio broadcaster Rai.

"In this life, you cannot exclude anything. Fernando is a bit like Senna, who had no problem with any team -- he only needs a car capable of winning."

It is that final point that has become very clear with Alonso stating no risks would be involved in his 2018 decision and Ferrari is enjoying something of a renaissance in 2017 with three wins so far. The former Renault team boss did indicate a move was more likely if McLaren didn't change supplier, believing it to be their only choice for competitiveness.

Another man in favour of a potential switch is former F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone, who, when asked who he thought the Italian team should sign if they replaced Kimi Raikkonen by Spanish newspaper ABC, replied: "Alonso, of course. He is one of the best F1 drivers of all time."

A major hurdle would be whether Sebastian Vettel, the man who replaced Fernando from 2015, would welcome the 35-year-old back to Maranello.  

Romain Grosjean believes the scenario that saw Valtteri Bottas become a Mercedes driver in 2017 is proof he can still hope for a seat at Ferrari for 2018.

The French driver has always targeted a potential seat at the Scuderia, with many claiming it was the motive behind his decision to join the Haas F1 team at the beginning of 2016, due to their technical as well as engine partnership with Maranello. 

The driver situation at Ferrari is still becoming increasingly unclear with neither Sebastian Vettel nor Kimi Raikkonen yet signed for next season. Though a new deal for the German seems likely, many names have been linked to Raikkonen's seat, including the surprise potential for a Fernando Alonso return. 

"I don't know the answer," Grosjean said when asked if he considered himself an option for the Italian team.

"Life is full of surprises. I think if you ask Valtteri (Bottas) what he was doing (in 2017) in December he would have said Williams and, next thing you know, he's in a world champion's car.

"So it's a phone call (away) and the best we can do is the best job on track."

Grosjean's stock has improved massively since the low of Spa 2012 and much of Haas' success since joining the grid last year has been down to the 10-time podium sitter.

"I think it's early days. We're not even in July," he said of the Haas project. 

"I'm frustrated sometimes because I love winning and that's all that matters to me in F1.

"Obviously you come from other categories where you've won everything and then you come to F1 and don't get the chance. It's like you're starting the race 10 seconds behind the others."

When it comes to predicting where he'll be racing in 2018, the 31-year-old admits: "Who knows what the grid is going to look like next year. Valtteri is waiting on Mercedes, then there's Kimi (Raikkonen) -- what's he going to do?

"Everyone since 2010 has said he's going to be out of formula one and yet here we are and he's 37 and still here doing a decent job. So I don't know.

"If there is an opportunity, if there is a seat, I believe I'm in a good position," Grosjean concluded.

Force India appear to have begun the process ahead of a potential name change from 2018 following the registration of a number of companies under the banner 'Force One'.

According to reports, the names Force One Grand Prix, Force One Racing, Force One Team, Force One Technologies, Force One Hospitality and Force One Brand were all registered starting from May 31st with the sole named director, Dr Thiruvannamalai Laskshimi Kanthan, a known financial associate of Force India owner Vijay Mallya.

The revelation comes after Mallya had earlier indicated a wish to change the name to represent the international nature of the team and, perhaps, improve its appeal ahead of a future sale.

“Force India was born out of Vijay owning the team,” COO Otmar Szafnauer explained.

“His hopes that some India companies would sponsor us. As it turned out, there were a couple, but not very many. He also hoped that India would have a Grand Prix, which happened. With the Grand Prix and a couple of our sponsors, it made sense to have Force India’s name.

“Since then we’ve lost the Grand Prix there, the Indian sponsors no longer were interested in sponsoring us. Now we have no Indian sponsors whatsoever, apart from Vijay’s Kingfisher.

“So it kind of makes sense to change it from India in order to attract sponsors more globally, and not restrict ourselves to being Force India."

Name changes under former F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone were typically hard to achieve but not impossible as Lotus became Renault last year and former teams Caterham and Manor started life as Team Lotus and Virgin Racing in 2010.

“For a name of chassis change, we need approval from some of the rest. I don’t think it’s all, but it’s got to go through the F1 Commission," Szafnauer continued. "If the FIA and commercial rights holder and some of the teams say ‘yes,’ then we can have a name change.

“I think there’s a spirit of co-operation in that regard. We voted for Brawn to go to Mercedes, and I would hope they would reciprocate.” 

Further adding to the likelihood, though not certainty, of 'Force One' being the preferred choice for 2018, Szafnauer did admit any future change would not be drastic as to retain the association with the current name. 

“You don’t change your name every other year, so we’ve got to think about it deeply and philosophically, and make sure if we do it, it’s going to be there for a long time," he said. "The one reason Bernie didn’t like name changes all the time is that a team over time gets an identity and everyone knows who it is.

“We’ve been Force India for 10 years now, if we do change, it should last another 10 years or 20 years so people get to know what it is.

“If we choose a name that’s closely linked to Force India but not Force India that might even be an easier step forward.”

Formula 1 governing body, the FIA, has confirmed a second investigation will be held into the incident between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The German driver was already given a 10-second stop and go penalty during the race for deliberately pulling alongside and hitting the Mercedes after initially hitting the back of the car in what the four-time champion thought was a brake test. 

However, this fresh look into the confrontation is likely to determine whether Vettel brought F1 into disrepute with his actions and could have a major impact on the championship battle.

"Following the recent incident at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in which Car 5 (Sebastian Vettel) was involved in a collision with Car 44 (Lewis Hamilton), on Monday July 3, the FIA will further examine the causes of the incident in order to evaluate whether further action is necessary," an FIA spokesperson said.

"A statement regarding the outcome of this process will be made available before the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix (July 7-9)." 

Several comparisons are being drawn between Vettel and his hero, seven-time champion Michael Schumacher who was famously involved in two acts of deliberate contact, albeit in championship finales, against Damon Hill at Adelaide 1994 and Jacques Villeneuve at Jerez in 1997. 

Further, the Ferrari driver was already on somewhat of a tightrope with the FIA, following his foul-mouthed rant towards Race Director Charlie Whiting.

Though a letter of apology ended that matter it was duly noted: "In the event of any future incident similar to the one that occurred in Mexico, disciplinary action will be taken by bringing such incident before the FIA International Tribunal to be judged."

While the acts are different, the potential consequences are similar, that means the outcome of this second investigation will be waited upon with baited breath.

Pirelli has revealed the tyre allocations for the upcoming Austrian Grand Prix with a variety of different approaches taken by a number of Formula 1 teams.

After not featuring in Baku last weekend, the ultra-soft compound returns at the Red Bull Ring, a circuit split between the long straights in the first sector and the technical second and third sectors which contain a number of medium-speed sweeping bends.

The number of official corners is the lowest on the calendar with just nine and lap-times could be well below 1m05s with a best of 1m06.228s posted in Q2 last year by Lewis Hamilton before rain led to a drying track in Q3.

The increased downforce of the 2017 cars is likely to be very evident in the second half of the lap meaning higher loads pass through into the tyres, particularly through Turn's 5, 6 and 8 which are tyre-limited. The greater durability of this year's rubber means, however, the 71-lap Grand Prix will likely be another one-stop race unless the weather intervenes.

Of the top teams, Ferrari has taken the most conservative route with just seven sets of the purple-marked ultra-soft of the 13 permitted, with Haas and Sauber, the other two teams powered by Maranello's engines, also choosing the same number.

Sebastian Vettel has opted for an additional set of the super-soft compound with five compared to four for Kimi Raikkonen, with the Finn deciding to take two sets of the soft tyre.

Mercedes has an extra set of ultra-soft rubber with eight for both drivers but again there is a slight difference with the other two compounds. Lewis Hamilton only has three sets of super-soft allocated compared to Valtteri Bottas' four with two sets of soft to the Finn's one.

The home team Red Bull are the most aggressive of the expected top three teams with Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen bringing nine sets of ultra-soft to the Styrian hills along with two of the super-soft and soft.

They are not the most aggressive though, as Force India and McLaren will have 10 sets of ultra-soft at their disposal with two super-soft and just the one soft.

The other allocations can be seen below: 

Max Verstappen has defended his decision to leave the Baku circuit without speaking to the media after retiring with an engine problem during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Sunday's race marked the Dutchman's fourth DNF in the last six races with only a fourth and fifth in Russia and Monaco respectively to show in that same period with all of his retirements through no fault of his own.

It also now emerges Verstappen has also completed the least number of laps of any driver to have participated in every race so far this season, even Fernando Alonso, who missed the 78-lap race in Monaco, has managed more.

Commenting on what happened in Baku on Monday, a still clearly frustrated Verstappen told Dutch TV show Peptalk: "This was an engine problem and, unfortunately, not the first time.

"It's really gutting to drop out again when you're in such a good position. If you look at how hard the guys work day and night to make the car work perfectly, then they're really gutted as well when it breaks down.

"On Wednesday I'll be in the simulator, at least there the engine can't break down," he jibed.

That was also the Red Bull driver's first media reaction after deciding not to talk after the race. A decision that will likely see Verstappen fined with at least a TV interview an obligatory requirement after a Grand Prix.

"I didn't really feel like [talking] at that moment," the 19-year-old said explaining his actions.

"I stayed at the track for half an hour to talk about the race and the balance of the car with my engineers and then I left.

"I thought it was the smartest thing to do."

The only plus for Max was the speed Red Bull showed during the weekend in Azerbaijan at a circuit even team boss Christian Horner predicted would not be good for the Milton Keynes team.

"We were positively surprised in Baku," Verstappen added. "The car was doing well but then I really want to score points.

"In terms of outright speed the whole year has been quite good, but in terms of scoring points, it really hasn't.

"[The team] expect me to do my best and I expect everything is perfect from Red Bull and the engine as well. It's very tough."

Baku race winner Daniel Ricciardo has backed Lewis Hamilton as the fallout from his incident with Sebastian Vettel continues.

The Australian was running down in 10th when his former Red Bull team-mate hit the back of the Briton's Mercedes and would respond by pulling alongside and banging wheels just before a Safety Car restart.

The later 10-second penalty Vettel would be awarded for his actions plus a headrest issue for Hamilton would open the way for the Australian to claim his first win this season, having moved up to fifth and then third behind the then leaders by passing the two Williams into Turn 1 at another restart after a red flag period.

But when asked by ESPN if he thought the German's claim of the reason for the initial contact with Hamilton was justified, Ricciardo would reply: "I don't think Lewis would have brake tested him, it just makes no sense because you also risk damaging your car.

"At the end of the day, it's the leader's right to dictate the pace. I think if you're going super-fast and then slam on the brakes that's a different story but because he was still going so slow at that stage it's hard to call it a brake test."

He would then go on to describe Vettel's response to the alleged brake test as another example of how the four-time world champion can let his emotions control him.

"Seb probably sometimes doesn't think before he acts," he said to the BBC. "It's probably driven through passion and hunger. He's kind of just got to put a lid on it sometimes.

“I respect Seb a lot for his grit and his love for the sport, which turns into a lot of passion and sometimes aggression. I respect and like that about him.

"But today you have seen -- whether it's over the radio, sometimes he will just go crazy. It is probably -- what's the word? -- spur of the moment? There's a better word.

“He's the leader, and it was too early for him to accelerate," he added referring back to the incident. "You're not going to make the restart out of Turn 15. Seb was probably just a little bit over-excited."