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From GMM

The unofficial 'silly season' has officially hit F1, as talk of a move to Mercedes for world champion Sebastian Vettel buzzes the paddock.

The rumour went full circle in the space of a couple of days, with Mercedes' Niki Lauda trying his best on Friday to bring it to a swift halt.

But Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko suggested to Sport Bild that he doesn't necessarily believe Lauda did not make a move for the German driver.

"Unfortunately, Niki has three opinions: one in the morning, one at noon and one in the evening," he said.

Silly season is, however, not limited to the front of the grid, even though Force India's Vijay Mallya said he wants to keep Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.

"We have options on both," the Indian said on Friday. "I'm very happy with both of them and I see no reason why we should be looking at any change."

There is also movement right at the back of the grid, although Briton Max Chilton expects to keep his well-funded seat at Marussia.

"I'm confident I'll be here next year," he said.

Briton Max Chilton is confident he will be at Marussia next year (Photo: WRi2)

But his teammate Jules Bianchi is in a slightly different situation, as he is backed by the might of Ferrari and looking to finally make a step up the grid for 2015.

"I can stay at Marussia," the Frenchman told RMC Sport, "but there could also be other good opportunities.

"The goal for me is to fight more regularly for points," said Bianchi. "I'm just trying to do a good job on the track.

"(Manager) Nicolas (Todt) is working on it, Ferrari as well, and I trust them."

One of the keys to the midfield silly-season could be Romain Grosjean, who may join partners Renault and Total in leaving Lotus should the Enstone team switch to Mercedes power.

The new engine deal has not yet been announced, but Frenchman Grosjean told reporters his future is not necessarily tied to the eventual outcome.

"I am 98, 99 per cent sure that next season Lotus will be better than it is now, and I'm not just talking about the power unit," he said.

Grosjean grinned throughout as reporters reeled off the names of potential 2015 employers.

What about Formula E? "Not an option!" he exclaimed. "Sorry, but I need gasoline!"

Most likely, perhaps, is a move to McLaren, now run by his former manager Eric Boullier.

Asked what their relationship is like today, Grosjean explained: "Friendship. We not only see each other in the paddock, but sometimes we spend time together.

"But this doesn't mean that I am one step closer to McLaren. Friendship is one thing, business is quite another."

From GMM

F1 team bosses have swerved around the political crisis in the wake of the MH17 air disaster.

The sport is scheduled to race on Russian soil for the first time in October, but there is pressure to cancel or boycott the race amid the deepening controversy.

"Obviously what's going on in that part of the world at the moment is of huge concern to everybody," Williams deputy chief Claire Williams said in Hungary.

"But we've always said we try to disengage from taking a political angle on these things."

Williams' colleagues broadly agree, insisting Bernie Ecclestone - an avowed admirer of the highly-controversial Russian president Vladimir Putin - and the governing FIA set the calendar.

But in the wake of F1's handling of the Bahrain crisis, and after teams raced in other controversial lands like China, and in 2016 will head to Azerbaijan, reporters on Friday expressed frustration with the teams' apparently blind 'follow Bernie Ecclestone' position.

Photo: WRi2

"Would you follow Ecclestone to North Korea?" wondered Sport Bild correspondent Ralf Bach.

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner responded by slamming the "negativity" of the questions posed during the FIA press conference.

"We should be talking about the drivers," he said, "we should be talking about the spectacular racing at the last grand prix, yet all we do is focus on the negatives and it has to be said, it gets pretty boring for us to sit up here and field these questions.

"If you've got these questions, please point them at Mr (Jean) Todt or Mr Ecclestone rather than the teams," Horner added.

From press release

Less than a week after winning the World Challenge Series race in Toronto, Montreal driver Kuno Wittmer was back in action in the United SportsCar Championship (USCC), for the seventh round of the season at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.

Wittmer and his teammate Jonathan Bomarito drove their Dodge Viper SRT to victory in GT Le Mans class.

"It was not a relaxing race, far from it," said Wittmer.

Photo: Richard Prince/SRT Motorsports

"It wasn't easy during my stint, the gaps were very small amongst the contenders in our category. At one point, I dropped to eighth place and I had to climb back."

In the standings, Wittmer and Bomarito jumped from fourth to second, only thirteen points from the leaders.

The series now heads to Elkhart Lake for the next round of the season.

Photo: Richard Prince/SRT Motorsports

From GMM

Lewis Hamilton versus Nico Rosberg is not the only raging battle in formula one.

Red Bull's Christian Horner lost his temper with "the negativities" being spread by journalists during the Friday press conference in Hungary.

"All we do is focus on the negatives and it has to be said, it gets pretty boring for us to sit up here and field these questions," he said.

Red Bull Racing's Christian Horner was angry at some journalists (Photo: WRi2)

Not only that, amid some alarming TV ratings and dwindling crowds for the Hockenheim-Hungaroring double-header, it is believed the issue of the media's role to play was discussed at length during Bernie Ecclestone's meeting with key teams on Saturday.

Journalist Ralf Bach, reporting for Germany's Sport Bild, was in a particularly feisty mood on Friday when he questioned the teams' morality in simply following Ecclestone to controversial race destinations.

Bach said in the FIA press conference that "Bahrain is killing their own people", and wondered if they would also blindly follow the F1 supremo "to North Korea".

McLaren team boss Eric Boullier did not respond to that question, but rumours on Sunday suggested he was furious and even asked the FIA to consider revoking Bach's accreditation.

Eric Boullier believes journalists should stop "spreading negativity around" (Photo: WRi2)

A McLaren team source denied that, but did admit that Boullier had been upset with some of the questions posed on Friday.

And The Times quotes the Frenchman as saying: "By spreading negativity around, we distract people from being passionate and watching us and we stop people who could be potentially interested to watch because we are negative.

"The negativity is part of the problem of why we have an audience which is going down," Boullier added.

From press release

German Nico Rosberg scored his sixth pole position this season despite changing weather conditions during Q3, Saturday at the Hungaroring.

But the big story of course was Lewis Hamilton's retirement before the Briton even set a lap in Q1. A fuel leak set fire to his car during his warm-up, only a week after a brake failure sent him flying into the wall at Hockenheim.

Such technical issues are worrying, even for Rosberg. But the German is confident Hamilton will be fighting for a good result Sunday.

"We need to sort out the reliability issues but I know that tonight there will be great team effort to fix his car - just like in Hockenheim where the whole garage pitched in to help rebuild it," said the pole-sitter.

"It takes away a bit of the excitement when there is no gloves-off battle because that's what we are here for. But tomorrow is a long race and I'm sure that Lewis can get another good result."

Qualifying results - Hungarian Grand Prix (round 11 of 19)
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'22"715 - Q3
2.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'23"201 - Q3
3.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'23"354 - Q3
4.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'23"391 - Q3
5.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'23"909 - Q3
6.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'24"223 - Q3
7.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'24"294 - Q3
8.Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'24"720 - Q3
9.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'24"775 - Q3
10.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - no time - Q3
11.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'24"706 - Q2
12.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'25"136 - Q2
13.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'25"211 - Q2
14.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'25"260 - Q2
15.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'25"337 - Q2
16.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'27"419 - Q2
17.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'26"792 - Q1
18.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'27"139 - Q1
19.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'27"819 - Q1
20.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'28"643 - Q1
21.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - no time - Q1
22.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - no time - Q1
*Unofficial times

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