Hamilton seems calmer and more relaxed this year. Gone from the paddock are
his dogs, his entourage appears reduced in size, and clearly the tutelage of
Niki Lauda, the three-time world champion and chairman of Mercedes F1, is
paying dividends.
Although Hamilton said he is as committed as ever, there is something far more
relentlessly focused about him.
“I’m doing exactly the same thing – I’ve got a great car so I’m able to
excel,” he said last night. “People say, ‘he’s extra focused’, but it’s not
necessarily the case. I’m as focused as I can be.”
Away from the track, Formula One is a particularly fractious sport at the
moment. The four smaller disgruntled teams have threatened to force an EU
intervention over revenue distribution, while Russia may still withdraw from
the calendar, with its race due to take place on Oct 12.
The four rebellious outfits – Caterham, Force India, Marussia and Sauber –
were all in the main press conference last night and reiterated their
concerns in a rare show of agreement by Formula One’s standards. You could
be forgiven for concluding it was a staged event by the FIA; a concerted
attempt to put pressure on F1’s all-powerful Strategy Group made up of the
biggest teams.
There was even an escalation of the cost crisis yesterday as Renault, who
supply Red Bull, revealed development of their underperforming engine is
being put at risk by late payment from some of its customer teams.
The four teams will submit proposals for reducing costs to FIA president Jean
Todt next week. It is thought they will ask Lotus and Williams, who said
yesterday that the sport has reached a “critical junction” on costs, if they
wish to be signatories in their plan.
Sauber, meanwhile, have been left fighting on two fronts. Not only have they
been a vocal critic of the cost situation, but Russian sponsors have been
put at threat by the crisis in Ukraine.
On the day when tensions escalated further into open fighting, Sauber’s team
principal said the situation had brought commercial deals in Russia to an
abrupt halt. “We have definitely seen an effect [from the crisis],” said
Monisha Kaltenborn. “A lot of our talks which are very advanced have
virtually come to a standstill.
“The sanctions which have been imposed are really biting some of them, so
they’re very careful, which means we have to do wait.”