Alonso: Lack of development makes racing boring

Fernando Alonso feels the restrictions on testing and developments in Formula 1 is too tight and chokes the sport's rate of improvement to make it a better spectacle. 

The two-time F1 world champion wants the rules to be relaxed to enable teams to run more testing so they can increase developments. The McLaren driver has singled out the strict regulations on engines and aerodynamics as an area where he thinks strong steps forward could be made if teams were given more freedom. 

The Spaniard also feels the current pace of the F1 cars is too close to its main feeder series, GP2, and there needs to be more of a gap between the two. 

At last weekend's British grand prix GP2 pole sitter Sergey Sirotkin's quickest lap was a 1m 39.949s which was just over half a second off the slowest F1 qualifying time – Manor-Marussia's Roberto Merhi who set a lap time of 1m 39.377s. 

Discounting the back-marker Manors, Alonso's own qualifying time that put him 17th on the grid at Silverstone (1m 34.959s), was only 4.99s faster than the GP2 front runners and he feels the difference between to two needs widening. 

"[We need] faster cars because now we are too close to GP2 times and more testing, free rules in terms of developing the car because now, as you put the car in the first test in the winter, more or less you keep the same position to the end of the year,” Alonso said. 

"You make progress, everyone makes progress, but because the rules are very strict you cannot develop very much in terms of engine freeze and the aerodynamic being very restricted, and that is making the races very predictable and very boring.”

Vettel joins Race Of Champions line-up

Ferrari F1 driver Sebastian Vettel has been announced as the latest addition to this year's Race Of Champions at London's Olympic Park

Former Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel has been announced as the latest addition to this year's Race Of Champions. 

The four-time F1 champion will join a host of motorsport stars for the 2015 edition which will be hosted at the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in London on the 20-21 November. 

The Ferrari driver has an excellent record competing at the Race of Champions after claimed the ROC Nations Cup for Germany in his debut year in 2007 partnering Michael Schumacher. The pair retained the trophy for six consecutive years eventually losing their grip on the title in 2012. 

Vettel joins a long list of stars preparing for this year's event, including nine-time Le Mans 24 Hors winner Tom Kristensen, FIA World Rallycross champion Petter Solberg and reigning ROC champion David Coulthard. 

“I'm looking forward to returning to the Race Of Champions, which I've enjoyed competing in since my Formula 1 debut in 2007,” Vettel said. “It is going to be very exciting to race cars in the Stadium that hosted the 2012 London Olympic Games. 

“Of course I'll miss having Michael as my team-mate this time but I'll try my best to bring the ROC Nations Cup trophy back to Germany and to win my first individual ROC title. That is one trophy that is still missing from my collection.”

Button staying with McLaren for 2016 – Dennis

McLaren CEO Ron Dennis says he expects Jenson Button to remain with the team for 2016.

Button’s current drive was only confirmed late last year, as McLaren weighed up whether to partner he or team-mate Kevin Magnussen with the incoming Fernando Alonso.

McLaren has suffered a miserable season, with Button scoring just four points all year with the under-powered Honda package.

The Woking-based squad also has both Magnussen and current GP2 points leader Stoffel Vandoorne on its books, prompting calls that this might be Button’s lasts season in Formula 1.

But Dennis insists he has no intention of replacing the 2009 champion next year.

“Jenson Button has a two-year contract with McLaren,” Dennis told Sky Sports F1. “We are not even thinking about drivers at the moment. Both of them are doing an amazing job.”

“It would be very, very easy for both of them to be critical of McLaren – and they are not.”

Dennis is adamant that McLaren can still turn around its season and expects the team to be more competitive at the coming races.

“They are driving the car and they know that the car is extremely quick in corners,” he explained.

“It is not quite the match of the Mercedes at the moment but it is in many of the corners and it is certainly a match for most of the cars on the grid.

“Everyone in Formula 1 knows that. Everyone can look at data and establish where we are quick and where we are slow.

“But there is nothing more certain than that we will be back

“I believe step-by-step we will get there, we want to believe everything we are told by our partners, Honda, and if they deliver against their promises then there is no question that we will be far more competitive in the next few races.”

Manor 'over the moon' with Stevens and Merhi

Will Stevens and Roberto Merhi have done an "outstanding job" according to Manor team boss John Booth, who praised their attitude and skill.

The pair are both rookies, with Stevens having completed a single race before 2015 courtesy of Caterham's short-lived return in Abu Dhabi.

Merhi meanwhile, who scored the teams best finish of the year last weekend with 12th, had little experience other than a single practice outing for Caterham at the Italian GP last season.

Both have however impressed Booth despite the difficult circumstances surrounding their debuts.

"We threw two rookies in with no pre-season testing and missing the first race altogether, and just to expect them to perform - which they have done - they’ve done an outstanding job," he told the official Formula 1 website.

"We’re over the moon with both drivers. Up until now we’ve given them a car that’s not been easy to drive and the engine must be at least 1-1.5 seconds slower than the best engine on the grid. We haven’t made their lives easy.

"They started getting very competitive a few races ago, but they seem to have had conversations themselves about how they want to conduct themselves on track.

"They’re both very intelligent guys, and they know each other very well of course. I think they’re developing into a strong team now."

Nico Rosberg says Lewis Hamilton's F1 win at Silverstone was pure luck

HAMILTON'S CALCULATIONS ON LATE PIT STOP, HOWEVER, PROVED TO BE THE DIFFERENCE

Lewis Hamilton simply lucked into the perfect strategy call that propelled him to victory in the British Grand Prix at Silverstone on Sunday. That is how teammate and top championship rival Nico Rosberg saw things after a late pit stop for a tire change in increasingly wet conditions proved to be the difference in the race.

Hamilton told British journalists that he had "100 percent confidence in my mind in terms of making the decision."

In the moments leading up to the final pit stop, the world champion was being rapidly chased down by his German teammate Rosberg.

"At that moment I thought 'Now I'm going to win'," Rosberg said in his latest column for the German publication, Bild. "As Lewis drove into the pits to get rain tires, I was totally surprised. I thought 'Now I've got him!' Actually it was too early (to pit), but then the downpour came at exactly that moment. Madness, because if the rain had come just half a lap later, I would have had him.

"Annoying."

Former boss says Ferrari should oust Raikkonen

"I would like to see another top driver there, even if it causes problems witThe pressure is continuing to pile on Kimi Raikkonen.

Amid swirling speculation about the Finn's future, Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene departed Silverstone with the message: "What I want now is for Kimi to remain calm so he can do his job."

But as far as the specialist Italian press is concerned, Arrivabene is only ramping up the pressure.

La Repubblica correspondent Marco Mensurati said: "Arrivabene made clear after the race that the strategic decisions in Britain had been made by the drivers.

"I understood it to mean 'Vettel is a genius and Raikkonen is stupid'."

Sport Mediaset's Giorgio Terruzzi agrees: "The intermediate tyre choice (made by Raikkonen) was wrong. Too bad, because until then everything was going well.

"The fact is, he (Raikkonen) already seems to be out of the house: unprotected and under constant fire."

Former Ferrari boss Cesare Fiorio thinks it is time for the 2007 world champion to go.

"Two years ago I raised question about his lifestyle and age," he told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "These doubts have been confirmed."

And former F1 team owner Gian Carlo Minardi agrees: "Kimi is no longer delivering what Ferrari needs. I would put a young driver in his place.

"Maranello's own academy has two promising youngsters: (Raffaele) Marciello and (Antonio) Fuoco," he added.

Raikkonen's manager, Steve Robertson, commented: "We would like to know Ferrari's decision before Monza."

Pino Allievi, La Gazzetta's veteran correspondent, said the obvious favourite is Valtteri Bottas, although many believe the Finn has been increasingly outperformed by Felipe Massa in 2015.

"If the Ferrari of the future must have a driver who has lost to the Ferrari of the past (Massa), it is better to wait and think before making a decision," he said.

Fiorio agrees: "He (Bottas) is the right age, but pretty inconsistent, and I think Felipe Massa really has the upper hand at Williams.h Vettel. Ferrari should try to get (Lewis) Hamilton, and if that fails, then (Nico) Rosberg," he added.

Merc boss sympathises with Williams

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff believes Williams were in unfamiliar territory at the British GP and probably didn't want to risk a good team result.

Williams' strategy at Silverstone raised a few eyebrows on Sunday after they ordered Valtteri Bottas not to pass team-mate and race leader Felipe Massa early on before later changing their minds and telling him he can overtake if it's a "clean pass and he gets away quickly".

Lewis Hamilton went on to lead home another Merc 1-2 and Williams missed out on a podium altogether as Sebastian Vettel from Ferrari came from lower down the order to nick the final podium place after pitting earlier for intermediate tyres.

Wolff admits he has a bit of sympathy for those on the Grove squad's pit wall.

"Sometimes I had a bit of deja vu like us in 2013 when you find yourself in P1 and P2 and you're surprised," he said.

"You don't want to risk the team result because it's so amazing.

"It's so easy to say what someone should have done, but I'm not in there and I think they probably got caught on the wrong foot."

He added: "Probably Valtteri could have built a gap if they let him go."

Another contentious issue was Williams' decision not to pit one of their drivers before their Mercedes rivals, both on the first stop and the switch to intermediate tyres.

"We know Williams have more difficulty in making the tyres last," Wolff said.

"We knew that triggering an early stop would make them think we were able to [make the tyres last] and could have caused them problems at the end.

"But they knew they needed more time. For them it was too early, too marginal.

"It would have been too difficult on the prime tyre to finish the race [with an earlier stop]."

Lewis Hamilton reckons the best is yet to come this season

British GP winner riding a wave of confidence after Silverstone success

Riding a wave of confidence after his British GP win at the weekend, Lewis Hamilton reckons his best is yet to come this season.

The defending world champion opened up a 17-point gap over Nico Rosberg after his Silverstone success - and the bad news for his Mercedes team-mate and title rival is that Hamilton also thinks he’s performing better than last year.

“It is five out of nine [wins] and I have had eight out of nine poles,” The Timesquoted Hamilton as saying. “Last year was exceptional for me and to think that I am doing it just as much as that but a little bit better this year, I didn’t think I could do that.”