[Fullrevs]

I would be delighted if Ferrari were in the fight for the title but I am not holding my breath anymore. Every year I give myself more hope than the team that they would win but with the current issues of losing a Technical Director and a new management coming to terms with the sport, I don't really see a Ferrari drivers or constructors champion in the near future.

Meanwhile, I definitely think this applies here:

McLaren may bear the name of its eponymous founder Bruce McLaren, but its modern history has been shaped by Ron Dennis. That era, however, looks like it's about to come to an end.

Autosport reports that Ron Dennis will not have his contract as chairman renewed once it expires at the end of this year – now less than a month and a half away. The company, however, denies that any such change is afoot.

Dennis originally served as head of the F1 team from 1982 (when it merged with his Project 4 racing team) through 2009 when he stepped back from its day-to-day leadership, then returned to the group's chairmanship at the beginning of 2014.

He was reportedly working to consolidate his ownership (currently resting at 25 percent) of the company by acquiring shares from fellow stakeholder Mansour Ojjeh (who also holds 25 percent) and the government of Bahrain (which holds the other 50 percent), but has apparently failed to raise the necessary capital for a buyout.

With the F1 team (still the core of the company) struggling to regain its once winning form, the other shareholders have apparently lost confidence in Dennis' leadership. Just who would replace him remains to be seen, but group COO Jonathan Neale would be a smart bet. The company also recently brought in Jost Capito to head up the racing department, while the applied technologies and automotive divisions have their own CEOs.

McLaren Automotive, the group entity responsible for its road-going supercars, is not expected to be directly affected by any change in leadership in the umbrella organization.

Source:CarScoops

Will be sad to see a legend like Ron Dennis not involved in F1 at all. I know he has taken a back seat lately but with reference to the above article. Looks he is leaving all together.

[ecenandu]

Great news for Daniil

Toro Rosso has re-signed Daniil Kvyat for the 2017 Formula 1 season to race alongside Carlos Sainz Jr, the team has announced.

Source

[Fullrevs]

Valterri Bottas has been confirmed with Williams for 2017. Seems like Lance Stroll will join Bottas next year with his dad recently confirming that Lance will drive a F1 car next season.

[MadiMaama]

The latest candidate for the Force India seat vacated by Nico Hulkenburg is Felipe Nasr. Though Nasr has denied any such rumours, it will help Force India as he brings in a substantial funding from Banco Brazil.

[Hatari]

Another big shift in sponsors for 2017, Mobil 1 moving to Red Bull while McLaren have landing the new BP sponsorship. Fuel is a big part of PU performance, hope this does not put them at a disadvantage.

[jfxavier]

The rumours are on that Ross Brawn will become the sporting head of F1.

It’s understood the duties of this new role for Brawn will include liaising between the teams and the FIA, with little or no input into the commercial side of the sport. Presumably Liberty Media will announce their commercial intentions later.

Clearly this is a role not for the faint hearted. Ferrari have an automatic veto on any sporting reg changes they don’t agree with. Red Bull too have a substantial say in policy along with Mercedes Benz.

Is Brawn the ideal man for the job?
Bernie Ecclestone’s back room deals will require extensive negotiations to unravel. Ross Brawn will find his new role difficult.
Couple these facts with the Ferrari veto reality… PLUS the recent revelations from Ross Brawn himself about his lack of trust toward Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda at Mercedes (given as his reasons for leaving the team).

He might side with FIA in case of any issues. Eg. Ross Brawn headed the investigation into the event relating to the death of the Marussia driver, Jules Bianchi. Not satisfied with the outcome, Bianchi family have since decided to pursue the FIA in a legal action regarding the failures during that fateful day in Japan.

I hope the impact Brawn will have on F1 with his new role will be a positive one.

[arunphilip]

Williams Driver Line-Up for 2017 - Bottas + Stroll

Williams have confirmed that Lance Stroll will partner Valtteri Bottas at Williams in 2017.

Stroll, 18, has spent 2016 as one of the Grove-based team’s development drivers, combining the role with a title-winning campaign in the FIA European Formula 3 Championship. He replaces Felipe Massa, who is retiring at the end of the current campaign.

Bottas, meanwhile, will stay on at Williams for a fifth successive season, the Finn having made his debut with the team in 2013.

Williams' announcement brings the number of unconfirmed seats for 2017 down to eight. Three teams - Haas, Sauber and Manor - are yet to confirm either driver, while Force India and Renault both have one vacancy.

Who is Lance Stroll?

Born in Montreal, Canada in 1998, Stroll was bitten by the racing bug aged five when his father, eminent businessman and occasional amateur sportscar driver Lawrence Stroll, bought him a go-kart. He won his first race and championship three years later before being selected for Ferrari's prestigious Driver Academy in 2010 following more karting success.

Stroll stepped up to single-seaters in 2014, competing in the Florida Winter Series before winning the Italian Formula 4 championship at his first attempt. Another title, in New Zealand’s Toyota Racing Series, followed in early 2015 before a learning year in European F3 in which he finished fifth with one win, but also had a couple of heavy crashes.

There would be no such problems in the same series in 2016 as, newly hired by Williams as a development driver, he triumphantly claimed the title, picking up 14 victories, 20 podiums and 14 pole positions along the way.

His father is a billionaire businessman, who also owns a racing circuit (Circuit Mont-Tremblant in Canada). It is rumoured that Stroll brings with him sponsorship money, which would be welcomed by Williams.

Source: http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/he...s-in-2017.html

[arunphilip]

Jolyon Palmer to stay on at Renault in 2017

Renault have confirmed that Jolyon Palmer will continue to drive for the Renault F1 team for 2017, alongside Nico Hülkenberg who is moving from Force India to the Enstone-based team.

Palmer was quoted as saying:

"I’m over the moon to be racing with Renault Sport Formula One Team for a second season and I can’t wait to reward the team’s faith in me on track,

"Having worked out of Enstone since 2015 I can fully appreciate the development of the infrastructure this year. This means I share the excitement of the team looking to 2017 and our new car.

"For me, it’s been a steep learning curve driving in Formula 1 and I know that I am performing better than ever, and that there’s still more to come. There is tremendous drive and enthusiasm in Enstone and Viry looking to next year and I am honoured to be part of this."

Source: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/h...t-in-2017.html

While this will leave his current teammate Kevin Magnussen without a drive, there is strong speculation that Magnussen has been offered a 2-year contract with Haas, to take Esteban Gutiérrez's seat and partner Romain Grosjean in 2017. (thanks to ecenandu for pointing out the error).

There is also talk that Esteban Ocon will move from Manor to Force India to take up the seat vacated by Nico Hulkenberg.

If this speculation pans out, then it will only be the Sauber and Manor teams without a confirmed driver line-up for 2017.

[Hatari]

^ Seems Magnussen was offered a similar 1yr deal from Renault, which he rejected in favour of a multi year deal with Haas.

[arun_josie]

Force India has confirmed Frenchman Esteban Ocon will partner Sergio Perez for the 2017 season after signing a "multi-year contract" with the team.

Source: http://www.espn.in/f1/story/_/id/180...rce-india-2017

Ocon, who debuted for Manor at the Belgian Grand Prix this summer, is a Mercedes junior driver and had previously been linked to a seat at Renault. However, following Nico Hulkenberg's move to the French manufacturer, Ocon has filled the German's place at the Mercedes customer team instead.

The highly-rated Ocon, who won European Formula 3 in 2014 and GP3 in 2015 and tested for Force India in Austria last year, is relishing the opportunity to move up the grid.

"I'm very excited to join Sahara Force India," he said. "I know the team quite well already because I was a test driver last year and I'm really looking forward to working with everybody at Silverstone once again. I'm still relatively new to Formula One, but spending half a season at Manor Racing has given me some valuable experience and I feel ready for this new opportunity with Sahara Force India.

"The next few months will be very busy as I do all I can to prepare for the challenge ahead of me. It means lots of days at the factory, working on the simulator and building relationships with the engineers and everybody in the team.

"It's something I've been working towards my whole life and I intend to grab this opportunity with both hands so that I can deliver the results the team expects from me. I want to say 'thank you' to everybody at Manor and especially to Mercedes-Benz for their support and belief in me. I can't wait for 2017 and my first full season racing in Formula One."

Force India owner Vijay Mallya says the signing continues the team's tradition of opting for talent over drivers with significant financial backing.

"It's a pleasure to welcome Esteban as our new race driver," he said. "He's an exceptional talent, as his status as a Mercedes Junior demonstrates, and I have no doubt he will flourish inside our team. We've had our eye on Esteban for a number of years and have followed his progress through the junior categories where he delivered outstanding results.

"We ran him in the car last year during testing and his performance convinced us that he is more than capable of racing alongside Sergio. Sahara Force India has a tradition of investing in young, talented drivers and the arrival of Esteban will bring some fresh energy and motivation to everyone in the team."

[arunphilip]

Haas Driver Line-Up for 2017 - Grosjean & Magnussen

In what must come as no surprise to anyone following recent driver movements in Formula 1, Haas have announced that Romain Grosjean will continue to drive for them in 2017, and will be partnered by Kevin Magnussen.

As a precursor to this announcement, earlier today Esteban Gutiérrez announced that he will not be driving for Haas in 2017. Gutiérrez has not had as much success at Haas as his teammate Grosjean, with all of Haas' 29 points having been scored solely by Grosjean.

Sources: Magnussen - Formula1.com and Gutiérrez - Formula1.com.

With these changes from the teams, the only teams to have not announced or confirmed their 2017 driver line-ups are the backmarkers of Manor and Sauber. There are rumours that Gutiérrez might return to Sauber, after having driven for them in 2013 and 2014. Manor are short a driver for 2017 with Esteban Ocon's promotion to Force India.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by arunphilip

In what must come as no surprise to anyone following recent driver movements in Formula 1, Haas have announced that Romain Grosjean will continue to drive for them in 2017, and will be partnered by Kevin Magnussen.

I think move has more ego and less logic. Renault are already making giant strides, next year will be a bigger step up. K Mag should have stayed and made his point on the race track.

[Hatari]

Looks like we will not see Ron Dennis with McLaren in the near future. The Board have voted him out! There has been a lot of turmoil in the team on the commercial side, hope performance talks next year.

He was the one doing all F1 commercial agreements with Bernie/team sponsors etc. Big shoes to fill.

[arunphilip]

Marcus Ericsson to stay at Sauber in 2017

Sauber have extended their contract with Swedish driver Marcus Ericsson through to 2017, leaving just three seats on the grid still open for next season. Sauber said they will announce their second driver 'in due course'.

It must be point out that Sauber's other driver Felipe Nasr scored Sauber's only points at his home Brazilian GP a week ago - points that vaulted the team ahead of Manor in the constructor's standings.

Marcus Ericsson said:

"It is great news that I will be racing for another year for the Sauber F1 Team. I have spent two years with Sauber now, and I really feel at home. A big thanks to everyone within the team for trusting in me again.

"From a personal point of view, I have developed a lot as a driver during my time at Sauber. We have had ups and downs, but we always stick together and work as hard as we can.

"Since the new ownership, there has been a positive push in the team, so it will also be exciting to go into this new era. Many motorsport experts are becoming part of Sauber, which is a good sign for the future.

"For 2017 my aim is to build on my performance from the second half of this season, and to continue working hard with the team. I cannot wait for the 2017 season, so that we can make our way up to the midfield with the objective to score points on a regular basis."

Team principal Monisha Kaltenborn had this to offer:

"We are very pleased to announce that Marcus will remain our race driver for the Sauber F1 Team in 2017.

"During the current season Marcus has again showed he is willing to go that extra mile in order to make progress. He went through very difficult times with us, but managed those very well.

"In the last two years, he has made significant steps in regards to his personal development, proving his skills on as well as off track, especially when circumstances are not easy. He is not only a good driver, but also an important team player who understands how to work with the team and how to motivate everyone with his positive attitude.

"Formula One goes into a new era in 2017, and I am confident that we can count on Marcus to bring the team back into the competition."

Source: http://www.formula1.com/en/latest/he...-for-2017.html

[Hatari]

Hamilton has taken ill, suddenly, for the current Pirelli tests!

More cracks in the Mercedes relationship?