Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/354989
21 Sport maltatoday, WEDNESDAY, 30 JULY 2014 FORMULA 1 Hamilton gets Horner backing Lewis Hamilton has found a surprise ally following the team orders controversy that unfolded during the Hungarian Grand Prix MERCEDES' non-executive chair- man Niki Lauda has already given Hamilton his full support after the Briton refused to allow team- mate Nico Rosberg by when in- structed as the duo were running split strategies. Hamilton opted to stand his ground believing he had a shot at victory himself at the Hungaror- ing, conceding afterwards he was "very, very shocked " at Mercedes' stance. Lauda also stated Mercedes were in panic mode as a difficult race played out given the conditions, crashes and safet y cars. Now Hamilton has been backed by Red Bull team principal Chris- tian Horner, no stranger himself to a team orders saga given what unfolded in last year's Malaysia Grand Prix and the 'multi-21' fu- rore. On that occasion, Sebastian Vet- tel was told to hold station behind then team-mate Mark Webber, only to ignore and go on and claim what was then a highly-conten- tious win. Assessing Mercedes' position in this instance, Horner said: "In- evitably it is very difficult because you have the objective of the team and the objectives of the drivers. "The interesting thing at Mer- cedes this year is because they have such an advantage they have let their drivers race. "As they are not under threat in the constructors' championship, so you can understand Lewis, he is fighting Nico. "If he lets him run his fastest strategy it puts himself under pressure, so it is entirely under- standable from Lewis' point of view to say 'not today thanks'." Horner has been left confused by Mercedes' position given the Brackley-based marque have pre- viously not interfered, and instead allowed their drivers to go wheel to wheel at times. "They are in a situation where they have let the guys race openly this year," added Horner. "So it would then be strange when they are racing again (in Hungary) to let one run his fastest strategy." Lewis Hamilton (GBR) Mercedes AMG F1 celebrates on the podium. Caterham take legal action CATERHAM have taken legal ac- tion of their own against a number of former employees, citing a "gross misrepresentation of the facts" in the claim against the Leafield-based marque. On Monday, a public relations company issued a statement on behalf of the ex-employees, saying they were seeking compensation against the team for alleged wrong- ful dismissal and unpaid wages. Caterham, taken over at the start of the month by a consortium of Swiss and Middle-Eastern busi- nessmen, are to counter-sue as the legal row rumbles on. A Caterham statement read: "Cat- erham F1 Team has read with great concern recent reports about a group of individuals who are claim- ing unfair dismissal from the For- mula One team following its takeo- ver by new owners. "The team is now taking legal action against those parties repre- senting the individuals concerned, and each person involved, seeking compensation for the damages suf- fered by the team due to the gross misrepresentation of the facts made by all those concerned. "These claims include the state- ment that they have been released from Caterham F1 Team - this is incorrect. "Caterham F1 Team's staff are em- ployed by a company that is a sup- plier to the company that holds its F1 licence, the licence that allows it to compete in the Formula One World Championship. "Additionally, the team has read claims its staff were not paid in July - again, this is wholly untrue. "Every individual currently em- ployed by Caterham F1 Team was paid their July salary in full on 25th July, one week before it is formally due on the last day of the month, in this case 31st July. "A formal request for the with- drawal of the relevant press state- ment issued on 28th July has been made by Caterham F1 Team, and the team will vigorously pursue its action against all those concerned. "However, it will not allow its core focus to be distracted from achiev- ing 10th place in the 2014 Formula One world championship, and building for the 2015 campaign and beyond." Mattiacci: Second not enough Horner: Vettel deserves a break FERRARI team principal Marco Mattiacci has demanded no one shuts down mentally during For- mula One's summer break Via the regulations all teams are required to close their factories for two weeks during which time no work is undertaken on the cars. Mattiacci, still a rookie in terms of a leader as he only took on his role in April, has called on all within the team to continue thinking as to how Ferrari can finally become winners again. Fernando Alonso came close in Hungary on Sunday when he fin- ished as runner-up to Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo, the Spaniard's best result for 10 months. But it is now 25 grands prix since the Maranello marque last savoured victory champagne, one of the worst droughts in the team's illustrious history. As far as Mattiacci is concerned, the work must be non-stop to get Ferrari back to the front, with sec- ond - in his eyes - not good enough. "We are not stopping thinking about how to make progress, there is no shut-down," insisted Matti- acci. "We are about 1.2 seconds behind the leaders, which means months or even years of work, so we cannot allow ourselves to shut down men- tally. "That's why we need to think carefully about this second place because we need to still be aware there's a huge amount of work to be done. "It was motivating, but the team has to understand the meaning of this second place and that it doesn't distract us from our trajectory. "We got the best out of the race, but we are not here to fight for sec- ond place." Saturday's qualifying session made it abundantly clear there remain problems inside Ferrari given the complete hash made by the team over Kimi Raikkonen's running. Three times the 2007 world cham- pion asked whether he should put in another quick lap to guarantee his passage into the second session, and three times he was told no, only to get knocked out by Marussia's Jules Bianchi. It led to Raikkonen, who went on to finish a creditable sixth, calling on the team to cure what he perceives as "weaknesses in the system". In reply, Mattiacci said: "We need to be careful taking decisions based on what happens during a weekend. "As I said, we have a plan. We have identified the weaknesses and the strengths of the team. "In Budapest, our worst (on Sat- urday) and our best (second place) is not going to change our idea of where we have to go. "Yes, Kimi is correct in asking the team to be vigilant about making decisions, but it's a team decision. "I'm happy Kimi's back, he had a fantastic race, and Fernando had a fantastic race. "But we should be extremely care- ful to apply the right importance to this second and sixth places be- cause there is still a big gap to the leaders." Marco Mattiacci RED Bull team principal Christian Horner is hopeful Formula One's summer break will revitalise world champion Sebastian Vettel. Not for the first time this season the reigning four-times world cham- pion found himself overshadowed by team-mate Daniel Ricciardo. Whereas Ricciardo captured the chequered flag in stunning fashion for the second time this season with victory in the Hungarian Grand Prix on Sunday, Vettel was fortunate to finish seventh. In tricky conditions, Vettel spun coming out of the final corner at the Hungaroring, skidding across the track and missing the concrete pit wall by millimetres. Just a few laps earlier, Force India's Sergio Perez had made exactly the same mistake, but obliterated his car. A year ago Vettel went into the Au- gust holiday in the thick of the title fight, emerging to equal an F1 record of nine successive wins. That is naturally not going to hap- pen on this occasion, but Horner is at least looking for the 27-year-old to come back mentally refreshed, and hopefully earning a little more good fortune. "Nothing really went his way, apart from a bit of luck not hitting the wall very hard," said Horner of Vettel's performance at the Hungaroring. "He ended up flat-spotting the tyres, so he had to pit, and we went for the prime tyre to the end of the race. "He did a great job in making that tyre go the distance and holding (Valtteri) Bottas who was three sec- onds a lap quicker over the final laps. He made the Red Bull as wide as I have ever seen it. "He now deserves a well-earned break, to take a bit of time out, and he will come back strong. "Up until his issues the weekend was a strong one for him because on Friday he was quick and Saturday he was fantastic in qualifying. "He was just unlucky in the race, and that is the way his luck has gone in the first half of the year, but it can change very quickly." As for Ricciardo, it was yet another drive for Horner to savour, with the Australian taking a stranglehold on third place in the drivers' standings behind Mercedes pair Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton. In the final laps Ricciardo first passed Hamilton and then Ferrari's Fernando Alonso to claim a win which resulted in him letting out a loud scream of joy come the cheq- uered flag. "It was an incredible performance," said Horner. "The guy is riding the crest of a confidence wave at the moment - you probably heard his radio message af- ter he passed two world champions there. "He is driving the car with such ease at the moment and things are falling right for him as well. "Being able to get in at the right time for his first stop (when the safety car appeared) was a critical element of the race. "We then had a problem on one of the cylinders on the engine on his pe- nultimate stint, but the Renault guys found a way around it to disable the sensor. "And then his passing moves in those last five laps there just topped a fantastic race."