The rift between Mercedes-Benz and F1 CEO Bernie Ecclestone "widened on Sunday" after the boss of the German manufacturer criticized Ecclestone for "continually trashing his own sport," according to Daniel Johnson of the London TELEGRAPH. Daimler Board Chair Dieter Zetsche "has watched his F1 team dominate over the past two years but also face increasingly harsh outbursts from Ecclestone." The 85-year-old recently described Mercedes as part of a "cartel" and said the sport he runs "has reached a nadir in its history." Zetsche "normally keeps his counsel" on the subject of Ecclestone, but at the launch of a new Mercedes model in Estoril, Portugal, the 62-year-old "hit out at Ecclestone’s stance." Zetsche said, "At the Geneva Motor Show I was not going on the stage to say I would never drive a Mercedes and customers should better not do it. I don't understand how someone who is not only the CEO but partial owner of that product talks that way about this product. If he feels about that, it should be discussed internally how to change it, but not as a sales pitch." Ecclestone has been "at loggerheads with Mercedes," particularly Mercedes F1 Exec Dir Toto Wolf, for "some time" over the supply of engines to the rest of the paddock. It is unclear "exactly where" Zetsche’s top driver, Lewis Hamilton, "fits in to all this." Hamilton himself described the sport as "broken" at pre-season testing in Barcelona last week "and has become increasingly outspoken on the subject" (TELEGRAPH, 3/6). In Melbourne, Andrew Tate reported two-time F1 world champion Fernando Alonso said that he is sad that F1 has "become so complex that it is turning off fans." Alonso: "I am sad for the sport you know because it doesn't look right from the outside when in one week we change the qualifying format three times. Well, we pretend to change but no one officialize (sic) anything so you know if I was a sportsman from another sport I would look at Formula One and be a little bit surprised. The changes, there are too many changes … the complexity of the rules for the spectators is quite high." He added, "I think all my friends here in Spain want to switch on the television and watch battles, big cars, big battles, big noise and enjoy the race like they do with other sports. But with us they need to know know about MGU-H, MGU-K, state of charge, supersoft, mandatory, medium, when you are fourth in the race three laps from the end you need to stop because you have to put another tire on that is mandatory. Things like that, it is normal that they switch off their televisions" (THE AGE, 3/6).
'HALO' REMAINS DIVISIVE: In London, Jack de Menezes reported Hamilton has criticized F1’s newest safety concept as "the worst looking modification in Formula 1 history," with the "Halo" head guard "continuing to split opinion after Ferrari ran it on their car in testing at Barcelona." Both Sebastian Vettel and Kimi Räikkönen have run with the "Halo" safety design that sees a carbon fiber frame fitted around the head of the driver, "with a strut coming down in front of them that partially obscures the view from the cockpit." Hamilton wrote alongside a picture of Räikkönen's Ferrari, "Please no! This is the worst looking mod in Formula 1 history. I appreciate the quest for safety but this is Formula 1, and the way it is now is perfectly fine." His comments "will cause some controversy given the recent deaths of F1 driver Jules Bianchi and IndyCar racer Justin Wilson," who both suffered fatal head injuries while driving single seaters (INDEPENDENT, 3/4). Johnson reported in a separate piece Vettel heard Hamilton’s "scathing criticism" of F1’s controversial "halo" device but was "equally withering" in his reply, saying that "it does not matter how ugly the head protection device looks, it will save lives." Vettel, a four-time champion and director of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, said that the "Halo" would have "saved the lives" of Wilson and Henry Surtees, and "no number of aesthetic complaints could prevent its implementation" from the '17 season. Vettel said, "I agree it doesn’t look very nice. It’s not the picture you are used to seeing for F1. But if it helps increase the safety and helps save lives, there would be at least two drivers who would still be around -- Henry Surtees and Justin Wilson -- if we had this type of system" (TELEGRAPH, 3/4).
