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From GMM

All eyes are on Ferrari and Fernando Alonso in the wake of Sebastian Vettel's shock news on Saturday.

Although some think Spaniard Alonso's exit at Ferrari and move to McLaren-Honda is now obvious, others are not so convinced.

Spain's El Mundo Deportivo thinks a sabbatical for the 33-year-old is even a possibility, as his plans to set up a professional cycling team take shape.

"It is an option that he takes a break for a year," agreed former team owner and serial F1 prognosticator Eddie Jordan.

"I don't think Fernando is going to go to McLaren to struggle and build a team up. He will take a year off," he told German broadcaster Sky.

Alonso is definitely not going to Red Bull to replace Red Bull, and Christian Horner said on Saturday that the energy drink-owned camp had never even considered Alonso.

"In all honesty, no," Horner told Britain's Sky at Suzuka.

Ferrari has confirmed in Japan that it is not currently planning to make a driver announcement this weekend.

Fernando Alonso is still in red. For now. (Photo: WRI2)

But McLaren and Honda are obviously "considering" putting Alonso in a Woking-built car for 2015, reportedly after he and Ron Dennis recently sat down and put their horrendous 2007 collaboration in the past.

It is even rumoured Alonso arrived in Tokyo on Monday, where the Honda Motor Co is headquartered.

Asked about that, Alonso laughed and denied he had visited Honda.

But Honda is obviously keen on having F1's best driver in a McLaren next year.

When asked if the carmaker and McLaren have already signed Alonso, Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai turned to his McLaren colleague Jonathan Neale on Friday and said: "Should I answer?

"Not only McLaren-Honda but also the other teams want to keep the good (best) driver," he said.

Eric Boullier, McLaren boss, is now admitting Alonso is actively under consideration.

"We are still trying," he told Spain's AS daily, "and we will take our time not to make any mistakes.

"We have a good chance and we don't want to lose it," Boullier added.

"We will take our time but the decision will anyway be soon -- in a couple of weeks."

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has ruled out moving the start time of Sunday's Japanese grand prix.

Shifting the 3pm start time forward by up to four hours has been under consideration, as the typhoon Phanfone bears down on Suzuka.

But F1 chief executive Ecclestone, who is not in Japan this weekend, told Forbes: "I'm not moving anything anywhere.

"Nothing is changing at the minute," he told the F1 business journalist Christian Sylt.

Indeed, the governing FIA has separately confirmed at Suzuka that Sunday's race will be at 3pm as scheduled.

That is despite the sport's official weather forecaster UBIMET predicting "persistent" and often "heavy" rain for most of Sunday, and particularly the afternoon.

"If it rains the teams will race," Ecclestone insisted. "Nobody knows what it's going to be like.

"Maybe there's going to be a storm."

Ecclestone has also rejected claims the typhoon, and potential flight delays heading out of Suzuka, could affect preparations for next weekend's inaugural Russian grand prix.

"We will be in Russia on time, no matter what happens, including an earthquake," the Briton told the Telegraph.

From press release

Nico Rosberg has just proved everyone in the Formula One paddock his title hopes are not dead yet.

His Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton has admittedly been the faster of the two this year, Rosberg being instead labelled as the consistent one.

Nico Rosberg, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

Whenever Rosberg was ahead, usually it was because Hamilton had been struck by some back luck: brake failure, fire or the like.

But in Japan, Rosberg was simply faster than Hamilton around the Suzuka circuit.

The German claimed his 12th career pole position by two tenths over Hamilton: "That was one of the best qualifying sessions we did this year," he said.

"The team did an incredible job to give me a brilliant car. It was so enjoyable to drive this wonderful track with that Silver Arrow. The balance was perfect, so I was able to push a lot and go to the limits in the corners."

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W05 (Photo: WRI2)

Hamilton was satisfied with second place, considering he crashed his car coming out of turn 1 in Saturday morning's free practice session.

"It was a decent recovery considering the crash in FP3," said Hamilton.

"Nico did a great job, he looked very quick, particularly in turn 8."

It was warm and dry Saturday for qualifying, but drivers and teams expect some rain Sunday for the race.

Fernando Alonso, Ferrari F-14T (Photo: WRI2)

Qualifying results* - Japanese Grand Prix (round 15 of 19)
1.Nico Rosberg (Mercedes W05) - 1'32"506 - Q3
2.Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes W05) - 1'32"703 - Q3
3.Valtteri Bottas (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'33"128 - Q3
4.Felipe Massa (Williams FW36-Mercedes) - 1'33"527 - Q3
5.Fernando Alonso (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'33"740 - Q3
6.Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'34"075 - Q3
7.Kevin Magnussen (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'34"242 - Q3
8.Jenson Button (McLaren MP4/29-Mercedes) - 1'34"317 - Q3
9.Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull RB10-Renault) - 1'34"432 - Q3
10.Kimi Raikkonen (Ferrari F14-T) - 1'34"548 - Q3
11.Sergio Perez (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'35"089 - Q2
12.Daniil Kvyat (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'35"092 - Q2
13.Nico Hulkenberg (Force India VJM07-Mercedes) - 1'35"099 - Q2
14.Adrian Sutil (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'35"364 - Q2
15.Esteban Gutierrez (Sauber C33-Ferrari) - 1'35"681 - Q2
16.Romain Grosjean (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'35"984 - Q1
17.Marcus Ericsson (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'36"813 - Q1
18.Jules Bianchi (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'36"943 - Q1
19.Kamui Kobayashi (Caterham CT05-Renault) - 1'37"015 - Q1
20.Max Chilton (Marussia MR03-Ferrari) - 1'37"481 - Q1
21.Jean Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso STR9-Renault) - 1'34"984 - Q2
22.Pastor Maldonado (Lotus E22-Renault) - 1'35”917 - Q1
*Unofficial results

Parce ferme (Photo: WRI2)

From GMM

Red Bull has not denied that Carlos Sainz jr is the obvious choice to replace Daniil Kvyat in 2015.

Suzuka and the sport was rocked on Saturday when it emerged Sebastian Vettel is leaving Red Bull's senior team, with the 20-year-old Russian Kvyat to replace him.

"I was very honoured," Kvyat told the BBC on Saturday, "and very surprised."

Daniil Kvyat has done enough to earn a drive at Red Bull (Photo: WRI2)

It leaves a gap at Toro Rosso, Red Bull's junior team, who had already announced that Kvyat would be racing at Faenza alongside rookie teen Max Verstappen next year.

Until the Verstappen news, 20-year-old Spaniard Sainz, whose father and namesake is the well-known world rally legend, had been the favourite to step up at Toro Rosso in 2015.

He is expected to wrap up the Formula Renault 3.5 championship later this month.

Christian Horner, the team boss at Red Bull's senior team, was asked by the Spanish daily AS on Saturday if Sainz will now be stepping up at Toro Rosso.

"We'll see what happens with Carlos," he answered. "It's something to talk about.

"We always look to talent and try to make the right decision," Horner added.

From GMM

A wild rumour is now a certainty: Sebastian Vettel is leaving Red Bull to replace Fernando Alonso at Ferrari in 2015.

With a Super Typhoon already bearing down, the reigning world champion team sent gasps through the media centre on Saturday morning with its press release.

"We're pleased to announce that Daniel (Ricciardo) will be joined in the team for 2015 by another rising star from the junior programme, Daniil Kvyat," Red Bull said.

Vettel is obviously heading to Ferrari to replace the disgruntled Spaniard Alonso, whose impending move to McLaren-Honda is also now obvious.

"I'm not running away and it's nothing against Red Bull," German Vettel said on Saturday.

"There are just times in life when you need to start something new."

He didn't want to jump the gun on Ferrari's official announcement, which is expected later on Saturday.

Sebastian Vettel's days at the wheel of a Red Bull car are numbered (Photo: WRI2)

"There will be an announcement soon," was all Vettel would say.

But Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was hiding nothing.

"Obviously Ferrari have made him a very attractive offer," he said.

"As of January first he'll be a competitor. He'll be a Ferrari driver," said Horner.

Dr Helmut Marko, having groomed Vettel from boyhood to F1 stardom, said he has "no bad feelings" about the now 27-year-old as he decides to move on.

Vettel has consistently denied speculation surrounding his future until now, but Horner said the quadruple world champion has clearly "had a bit on his mind recently".

Horner said Vettel had surprised the team with the news late on Friday, despite agreeing his winter test programme and 2015 merchandising plans with Red Bull only on Thursday.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said Vettel has escaped from his Red Bull contract thanks to an exit clause on performance grounds.

Horner said: "If somebody's heart is not there, it doesn't matter what you have on a piece of paper."

With Russian Kvyat stepping up at Red Bull's senior team, it is expected Toro Rosso will fill the gap with Carlos Sainz jr in 2015.

From press release

Despite being 1000 km away from Suzuka, Typhoon Phanfone will have a direct impact on the racing at the Japanese Grand Prix.

According to UBIMET, the FIA's official weather partner, it will almost certainly rain during the race, which always makes things interesting in F1.

If Typhoon Phanfone promises some exciting racing on the track, it's not all positive as the heaviest rain and strongest winds are expected after the race, when teams will be heading out to Russia for the next race.

''More problematic will be the demobilization and onward transport of the equipment to Sotchi, where the next Grand Prix will be run," confirmed meteorologists Steffen Dietz and Andy Swan.

"The main body of the typhoon will impact most of Honshu on Sunday night with gusts of up to 120 kph and torrential rain over a few hours. Disruption to transport out of Nagoya airport is almost certain."

It's going to be even worst probably for the people of Japan, who will have to deal with the after effects of Phanfone.

"Although no longer a Super Typhoon, the storm will produce widespread flooding and storm damage," added the UBIMET statement.

From GMM

Ron Dennis on Saturday hit back at suggestions Fernando Alonso's return to McLaren in 2015 is already a done deal.

Undoubtedly, following news Sebastian Vettel is surely set to replace Alonso at Ferrari next year, a move to head McLaren's new works Honda era is a strong possibility for the Spaniard.

But he said on Saturday that nothing is final.

"It's very open. There are many possibilities," Alonso said at Suzuka.

"Everything is going according to plan and let's wait and see."

He declared himself as "the decision maker" who ultimately can choose his path for 2015.

"I have still not decided completely. I have a plan in my head. I have my mind set for the last two or three months," said Alonso.

"So being the decision maker probably some of the movements that we have seen now is an implication of what I am deciding."

Many paddock dwellers believe Alonso's "plan" is to rejoin McLaren, even though his first collaboration with Dennis ended horrendously, alongside the sensational rookie Lewis Hamilton and eventually at the centre of 'spygate' and an acrimonious split.

Ron Dennis (Photo: WRI2)

But Dennis insisted on Saturday that the spy scandal, that cost McLaren $100 million and arguably Dennis his job, is not an impediment to Alonso's return.

"Fernando wasn't the (spy-gate) trigger," he told Britain's Sky.

"He was just a part-player. I moved on years ago.

"There's no impediment for Lewis Hamilton coming back. There's no impediment for Fernando Alonso coming back. And there's no impediment for Kevin (Magnussen) and Jenson (Button) staying," added Dennis.

But Dennis insisted that McLaren's direction for 2015 is not yet clear.

"None of our drivers are signed for 2015," he declared.

"We want the most competitive drivers available and I've talked to every driver at the top end of the pitlane."

Dennis hit back strongly at rumours Honda's F1 project is severely delayed, insisting that McLaren's return to works engine status will revive its chances of winning titles.

"It is mindblowing," he said of Honda's progress. "The engine is a piece of jewellery. They are further ahead than expected. The competiveness of the engine is without question."

From GMM

Bernie Ecclestone has slammed reports his return to formula one's executive board has been denied.

British newspapers on Friday had said that despite his German legal troubles now being over, the board of F1's holding company Delta Topco put "conditions" on Ecclestone's return that were not met.

But the 83-year-old F1 'supremo', not in Japan this weekend, has hit back at the reports that he describes as "complete and utter rubbish".

"The agreement was, when this trial started, I agreed to stand down from the board while the trial was on. Afterwards, it's business as usual," he told the Daily Telegraph.

"Yes (I am on the board)," said Ecclestone.

Asked if it is true some 'conditions' have been placed on his continuation, he insisted: "Not at all.

"What was agreed was that certain things, if I wanted to buy the Eiffel Tower as CEO, that probably I would need permission from the board."

CVC, F1's controlling shareholder, did not comment.

From GMM

As the morning's sensational news heads into late afternoon at Suzuka, tongues are still wagging far and wide in the Suzuka paddock.

Mercedes' Niki Lauda, who often dines with his fellow Austrian Dr Helmut Marko, told the British broadcaster Sky: "Last night at 9.30 Sebastian walked up to Christian Horner and said 'I'm leaving'."

Red Bull's revenge seems to be jumping the gun on Vettel's next move, almost certainly to Ferrari, ensuring that all eyes have now turned to the obviously departing Fernando Alonso.

Marco Mattiacci seemed bemused when asked why Red Bull had announced Ferrari's next driver lineup. "Thanks," he told the British broadcaster Sky.

The two leading theories about Alonso's next move is that he will either go to McLaren-Honda, or take a season off.

But he then gave a curious post-qualifying interview in which he smilingly confirmed that he is in the privileged position of being able to "choose" his 2015 employer.

"I want to be world champion," the Spaniard declared.

Would Fernando Alonso fit in a Mercedes car (Photo: WRI2)

For Alonso, the safe bet for winning the 2015 title would be to go to ultra-dominant Mercedes, whose drivers on Saturday once again locked out the front row of the grid.

But Nico Rosberg signed a new long-term contract this year, while Lewis Hamilton is firmly under contract for 2015.

And Lauda insisted on Saturday that not only will Mercedes field a silver arrows for Hamilton in 2015, but negotiations for a new contract in 2016 and beyond are well advanced.

The great Austrian said that, given Rosberg and Hamilton's dominance this year, "Why should we change?"

But what about the apparently available Alonso?

"For us it was clear. We never even discussed with him (Alonso)," Lauda said.

But there has been speculation Hamilton might not want to stick around at Mercedes should his nemesis Rosberg secure the number 1 for his silver car next year.

Asked about the Alonso-to-Mercedes rumour, Hamilton said after qualifying: "I'm there. I'm here (at Mercedes)," he insisted.

"He (Alonso) might be talking about a third seat maybe, but I don't think that's going to happen."

From GMM

Ferrari is yet to confirm the news, but the famous team looks set to enter the 2015 season with Sebastian Vettel alongside Kimi Raikkonen.

It is now an open paddock secret that Alonso and Ferrari made the decision to terminate the rest of their contract -- scheduled to run until the end of 2016 -- on Thursday.

According to Red Bull, quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel will replace the Spaniard.

And despite Kimi Raikkonen's struggles in 2014, the Finn has a watertight contract and so he looks set to be Vettel's teammate in red.

Famously, the pair are friends.

Kimi Raikkonen and his friend Sebastian Vettel at the Singapore Grand Prix (Photo: WRI2)

Asked by the Finnish broadcaster MTV3 if he would be happy to work with Vettel at Ferrari, Raikkonen said at Suzuka: "Absolutely.

"I have never worked with him, we've always been in different teams, but I know him well."

Raikkonen played down any lingering doubts that he might join Alonso in departing the crisis-struck Maranello camp, amid 'academy' driver Jules Bianchi's obvious interest in stepping up for 2015.

"I have a contract," said Raikkonen, "and I expect that I am here next year.

"I strongly believe that we will be in better positions next season.

"I know Marco (Mattiacci) has said he does not expect us to be at the front next year, but who knows," the 2007 world champion added.

"Lots of things happen in formula one, including big steps in development.

"I'm here because I want to be here," said Raikkonen. "I could leave tonight, but I can also continue for two or ten more years if I want."

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