Nico Rosberg rounded off his strong finish to the 2015 Formula One season with victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The German, who took pole at the Yas Marina circuit, comfortably held off world champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the Emirati twilight. The win took Mercedes 275 points clear of second-placed Ferrari in the constructors' championship with Hamilton, who won the drivers' title at the United States Grand Prix back in October, ending up 59 points clear of Rosberg. Suffice to say, competitiveness has not been a hallmark of 2015.
Red Bull revved up at last
Champions for four seasons in a row up to 2013, Red Bull used to enjoy processional wins like the ones Mercedes have seen so many of this time round. But the energy drink-backed outfit have lost pep since last year's engine rules revamp, and their relationship with engine supplier Renault had disintegrated to the point where it looked like Red Bull might withdraw early from their deal, and perhaps from the sport altogether.
That prospect now looks to have receded. Red Bull were turned down by Ferrari and Mercedes for a 2016 engine, and McLaren's Ron Dennis also intervened to stop Honda coming in with a customer deal. As race weekend in Abu Dhabi closed, however, it looked like a solution of sorts had been found to Red Bull's problems.
“We have got a signed contact. There's obviously been an awful lot of activity over the last few weeks,” said Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner. “I'm not at liberty to say what that activity is, but I'm sure it will come out in the wash.”
Details will emerge “within a week”, but it is thought that Red Bull have signed revised terms with Renault to run unbadged engines for 2016. Renault Sport chairman Jerome Stoll was in Abu Dhabi for the Grand Prix and met Formula One chief executive Bernie Ecclestone, who was reported by the Sunday Times to have withdrawn a legacy payment honouring Renault's world titles in 2005 and 2006 after learning that the French company had upped its demands to Red Bull from €24 million to €30 million. That threat has now been 'averted'.
Red Bull have already responded to their more certain status with renewals for 2016 to deals with Siemens, Exness, Oz Racing and Sabelt.
Lotus deal on again
Renault's difficulties with Ecclestone and Red Bull had put the brakes on a mooted takeover of financially stricken Lotus, whose 2015 has been pockmarked by embarrassing incidents such as being locked out of their hospitality facilities at Suzuka. Renault is now said to be back in for the team, with Lotus' future thought to be in serious doubt if a deal does not get made.
Ecclestone effectively told media at the weekend that Lotus were at the mercy of Renault chairman and chief executive Carlos Ghosn when he reviews the deal this week, and that a back-up plan to run Mercedes engines and a reduced staff was unlikely to work.
“I'm sure they'll stop,” Ecclestone told Fox Sports. “They are running a business unsuccessfully – they haven't got enough money to keep going. So they'll stop. They're in trouble with finance anyway, so I can't see that a Mercedes contract is going to help.”
According to Formula One commentator James Allen, the deal can now be expected to go through.
Hamilton's Nascar hopes
Lewis Hamilton has been on auto-pilot for the last three races of the season, with his third world title already secured. It has allowed him to pursue some of his outside interests: last week, he flew to Florida to watch four-time Nascar Sprint Cup champion Jeff Gordon go fast and to the left one last time.
“We have always been very supportive of each other, messaging each other after our races and so on,” said Hamilton of Gordon, who he described as “a legendary dude and a really nice guy”.
Speaking to the BBC, Hamilton added: “He told me that this was his last year and I thought: I’ve got to make it to a race because I’ve never been to a Nascar race before. So I dropped everything I had and flew out to Florida just for that day and had an amazing time. It made me want to drive one, I really fancy a race in Nascar one day. I’m not sure I’d do an oval but possibly a street circuit or road course.”
Hamilton also spoke warmly of the Nascar spectator experience. “There were definitely some things that, for sure, they do a lot better than us,” he said. “There were things that we could learn from them. It was a great show, a great spectacle, particularly for the fans. A bit like DTM [German Touring Cars], the fans get very, very close to the garages in the background and to the drivers… it was a really cool event.”
Something to consider for Formula One, not least if American investor RSE Ventures pulls off a takeover in the months ahead.