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Liberty Media makes the right noises for F1 in Spain, but not for Silverstone | Giles Richards

The new owners of F1 showed their softer side with young Ferrari fan but are as hard-nosed as ever when it comes to the bottom line of the spiralling cost of the British Grand PrixLiberty Media scored a PR coup in working with Ferrari and finding the distraught six-year-old who had been in tears after Kimi Raikkonen’s early exit from the race. Thomas Danel from Amiens in France was brought to the motorhome to meet his hero Raikkonen and there were smiles all round. His mother, Coralie Danel, was hugely impressed:“This has been the most fantastic day for us. We could not believe it when they came to get us and took us to Ferrari,” she said. “This is great...

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Liberty Media needs to share F1 money out more fairly for strength in depth | Giles Richards

Drivers’ championship is shaping up to be close but a better division of F1’s massive spoils will ensure a healthier future for the whole sportFor all the positive noises being made by Liberty Media about the future of Formula One, the company that owns the sport has been positively reticent on one of the most important issues they must address. Behind the spectacle, the sound and fury of a thus far largely successful reboot, F1 is still generating huge amounts of money and as it prepares to begin the European season in Barcelona this weekend, the disparity in how it is distributed is again under public scrutiny.On track, the heightened competition at the front of the grid between Lewis Hamilton...

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Fernando Alonso passes first Indy 500 driving test at the Brickyard | Richard Williams

McLaren’s No1 driver seemed to enjoy a few day away from his F1 purgatory at the world-famous oval in readiness for Memorial Day weekendFernando Alonso smiled as he got out of the cockpit at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Wednesday. That was good to see. A hundred laps of the two-and-a-half-mile high-speed oval had given him all the evidence he needed that driving a racing car could still be a fun thing to do.A couple of weeks ago, fed up with waiting for McLaren-Honda to give him a competitive Formula One car, Alonso announced that he intended to skip the Monaco Grand Prix – a race of supreme commercial importance to all F1 teams and their sponsors – on 28...

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Sebastian Vettel has more reason to smile as F1 heads to Europe | Giles Richards

The first four races of the season have shown Ferrari are on the up and proved Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have work to doBarcelona beckons as Formula One prepares to begin the European season proper, with the teams having 10 days to reflect on the four opening races and prepare for the upgrades that will be unveiled in Spain. The new regulations have thrown up a tense and gripping, rather than spectacular, prologue and the racing has been better than many feared, while there is an absolutely cracking battle at the front in prospect. Time then, to consider where the leading drivers and their teams stand before returning to the fray at the Circuit de Catalunya.Ferrari’s resurgence has proved the...

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Lewis Hamilton may have to give way if Mercedes employ team orders | Giles Richards

Lewis Hamilton may have to open the door for junior partner Valtteri Bottas if Mercedes decide to employ team orders some time soonLewis Hamilton might have thanked his team-mate Valtteri Bottas for being a “gentleman” during the Bahrain Grand Prix, in moving aside to allow the British driver through, but afterwards the look on the Finn’s face betrayed his real feelings. Having been ordered by Mercedes to concede second place to Hamilton, he was clearly not happy about it, yet it is highly unlikely to be the last time the team employ orders and both drivers may have to suck it up. Testing times leave little room for compromise and there is no mistaking that, for the first time since...

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