Sauber's latest change of ownership could be indicative of a full take-over by Alfa Romeo at some point down the road.

The Swiss outfit strengthened its ties with Ferrari at the end of last year with a commercial partnership with Alfa Romeo and a new engine supply deal with the Scuderia.

Recently, Sauber technical boss Jorg Zander was replaced by ex-Ferrari man and chief designer Simone Resta.

All signs point to an increased collaboration and rapprochement between Hinwil and Maranello, but a recent change of ownership at Sauber could be construed as the precursor to a buy-out of the team by the Alfa Romeo brand.

For the past two years, Sauber has been owned by an investment company known as Longbow Finance.

However, according to Swiss weekly Handelszeitung a change of shareholders has just taken place, with a company called Islero Investments now assuming ownership of Sauber.

"Islero Investments has taken over the position of Longbow Finance," confirmed Longbow's boss Pascal Picci.

Handelszeitung also reported that a delegation of Sauber staff is scheduled to visit Ferrari's Maranello headquarters, hence the Alfa take-over speculation.

Picci insisted however that "Sauber will remain independent for the foreseeable future."

Challenging. That would be one way to describe Max Verstappen’s start to the 2018 season. The Red Bull driver has been involved in crashes or incidents in every race and has scored just 35 points, whereas team mate Daniel Ricciardo - who is no less hard charging - has racked up a tally of 72. As a result, team boss Christian Horner has suggested Verstappen can have no better 'teacher' than the Australian...Red Bull were favourites in Monaco, and Ricciardo duly delivered on those expectations, dominating practice, qualifying and the race to secure his second win in six races.

But hopes of a one-two were dashed as early as Saturday when Verstappen crashed heavily in FP3 and missed qualifying.

The Dutchman recovered to ninth place from the back of the grid in the race, but afterwards he admitted he had adopted a different approach, being mindful he can’t “go all in” as “that’s just the situation I am in at the moment”.

Horner said he has spoken to his charge regarding his incident-filled start to the season but “the only person who can address it and deal with it is Max”.

However, he added a “modified approach” and taking a leaf out of Ricciardo’s book would be a good move.

“He has a very good teacher in the car next door to him,” said Horner. “Max has an abundance of talent and had some harsh lessons this year and I think a modified approach will benefit him. [The Monaco] weekend was very painful for him.

“He’s very aware. We talk weekly. Of course what frustrates him is that he’s working harder than ever, feels fitter than ever and it feels like he’s just trying a bit too hard at the moment. When you get into a spiral and try harder I think you just need to hit the reset button.”

Verstappen was just 17 when he made his F1 debut with Toro Rosso and is still only 20, 18 years younger than the grid’s oldest driver Kimi Raikkonen. Horner believes his age should be taken into account when judging his form.

“Max arrived in F1 very quickly so he is doing his learning in a very public arena and is in a front running car very quickly,” he said.

“Most guys would have gone through some of this in the lower formulas that you wouldn’t have even seen, whereas he is having to deal with it in a very public arena. I’m sure he will emerge from it on the other side.”

Verstappen heads to this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix having yet to grace the podium in three attempts. His best finish was fourth in 2016.

Renault is re-evaluating how to incorporate mirrors onto the halo device after the design it was working on was outlawed by a Ferrari-induced FIA technical directive.

Ferrari became the first team to add mirrors to the halo during the race weekend in Spain, but the design was banned because it featured a winglet atop the mounting.

The Ferrari's mirrors were connected to the halo via a mounting that also had a winglet on top and was weakly connected to the outside edge mirror by a thin piece of bodywork.

Renault's idea was to have one long winglet sprouting from the halo with the mirror attached underneath at the end.

It had a 3D-printed version of the concept in Spain but believes it would be illegal based on the FIA's Ferrari ruling.

"We had a rapid prototyped one running off the halo, but that wouldn't work with the TD so we're looking at a different way of doing a halo-mounted mirror," said Renault's technical director in charge of chassis Nick Chester.

"The reason we were trying an RP one was to check if the drivers could see properly. [Now] we'll have a different go at those."

The FIA has told teams that aerodynamic impact of mirror mountings should be incidental or minimal.

Teams will also need to prove that any device it claims to be a mounting is a "meaningful" part of the structure.

Chester said: "It's always a bit tricky because whenever you've got something in a bodywork box you're always going to find other uses for it.

"I think that the TD [technical directive] that came out recently specified where you could put the stem on the mirror, it has to be the side or underneath.

"That's pretty much cleared it up.

"Having aerofoils that come out and have a tenuous little stay to them - it was unlikely that was going to last very long."

Expert View by Gary Anderson

Being allowed to mount the mirrors off the halo has now opened a whole new can of worms.

As we saw with Ferrari anything that you use will be optimised for aerodynamic reasons and then called a mirror mount.

If the mirror mounts are profiled to help pull that turbulent airflow outwards then it allows better airflow into the airbox and cooling intake.

The worst thing that you can have aerodynamically is a round tube, and basically that is what the halo starts off life as.

It is not the external aerodynamics that suffer most, it is the airbox inlet and in turn the cooling that all those internal ducts feed.

To allow the driver to see past the halo its front section is quite high, almost in line with the intake, and creates the most airflow disturbance in this area.

McLaren and Toro Rosso have a louvred top shroud to help pull the airflow down away from the intake, while other teams have just shrouded it in as good an aerodynamic profile as the regulations allow.

Honda will take "a considerable step" this weekend in Canada. Like most of the engine manufacturers, the Japanese carmaker will bring an updated 'power unit' specification to the Montreal race. Rumours suggest Honda's step forward will be as much as 40 hp. "I don't know the exact numbers. I think it's better to ask someone from Honda or Toro Rosso," said Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley. "But I think it should be a considerable step," he is quoted by AS newspaper. Teammate Pierre Gasly said he is looking forward to Honda's power boost. "I will wait until Friday to see exactly what the difference is," said the Frenchman. "Sometimes in formula one it doesn't go as you expect, but sometimes it goes better, so I want to see it. But I am very excited about this improvement," Gasly added.

Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey has confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo will have to take grid penalties at the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal this weekend after the Australian suffered an MGU-K issue in the Monaco GP.

Ricciardo won in Monaco despite the problem, and while some sources had suggested that the MGU-K could be salvageable, that appears not be the case.

He took a complete second power unit at the Chinese GP, and a third MGU-K will automatically generate a 10-place grid penalty in Canada – with a third energy store and control electronics potentially adding five places each. A third V6, turbo or MGU-H will not add to the tally in Canada, as penalties only kick in for the fourth example of those elements.

“He will definitely be taking some penalties in Montreal, we haven’t heard at the moment just how many,” Newey told Reuters.

“One of things there is whether the battery was damaged or not in Monaco, so until we know that from Renault we don’t know exactly what we’re facing. The K is definitely a penalty.”

Renault is introducing an upgrade package in Canada, with most of the focus on the V6. Although it is potentially available to all six Renault users, there has been no confirmation on who will opt to use it.

Some drivers have done less overall mileage, due to early retirements in races for example, and may prefer to wait.

The FIA has added a third DRS zone at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in a bid to further boost overtaking at the Canadian Grand Prix.

With motor racing's governing body eager to do all it can to improve the spectacle this year, an extra DRS zone will run between Turns 7 and 8 in Montreal this weekend.

This new area is in addition to the traditional DRS zones along the back straight into the final chicane, and along the start-finish straight.

The FIA has been playing around with DRS zones this year – either extending them like it did in Spain or adding an extra one as happened in Australia.

F1 race director Charlie Whiting said that the FIA was not scared to experiment if there was a chance it could help make a better show.

Speaking in Australia about the extra zone there, Whiting said: "It was just to offer something else. We will try and do something more effective at other tracks where there's more opportunity to do that."

Honda has revealed its Formula 1 engine upgrade for the Canadian Grand Prix is centred around improvements to its internal combustion engine.

The Japanese manufacturer has been expected to give partner Toro Rosso an update for the power-sensitive race, which Motorsport.com reported Honda hoped would be worth around 27bhp.

Honda stressed it would be careful not to hurt the reliability of its power unit in the pursuit of performance but, ahead of the Montreal race, technical director Toyoharu Tanabe confirmed Honda's upgrade - focused around its internal combustion engine - would be implemented.

"We are introducing an updated PU for this event, fitting it to both cars," said Tanabe.

"The updates are mainly to the ICE, focusing on improving performance. The Montreal circuit is known for its long straights, where over 60% of the lap is spent at full throttle.

"There are slow corners after the long straights and this means that good driveability is again important as is rapid turbo response.

"All these features mean that the power unit is one of the key elements here, which is why it has traditionally been the venue for engine manufacturers to introduce updates."

Red Bull will use the Canadian Grand Prix to assess the performance of Honda's power unit compared to current supplier Renault as it weighs up whether it should switch engine provider for 2019.

Renault, which has made it clear it is unhappy at Red Bull for delaying a decision over its supplier, is also expected to introduce an update for the race.

Mercedes will introduce their second power unit of the season at the Canadian GP and hope for more performance, according to Toto Wolff.

As Formula 1 reaches its seventh race of F1 2018 at the Canadian GP, with its power-hungry circuit, several teams are due to bring engine upgrades as the development battle hots up in a fiercely competitive season.

And though Red Bull and their Renault engine are a particular point of intrigue having joined Mercedes and Ferrari in the title race with their Monaco GP triumph, the four-time world champions are expecting a boost of their own.

"We expect a number of teams to take their scheduled second Power Units this weekend, including all the Mercedes-powered cars," said Mercedes chief Wolff.

"We are pushing hard to bring more performance to the car as soon as possible."

Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey has downplayed the effect of Renault's upgrade, only expecting a tenth of a second in lap time, and instead the team are facing penalties for Daniel Ricciardo after his MGU-K was damaged in his Monaco win.

But Mercedes are still a long way from the three-unit limit and grid drops, with both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas on the engine elements they started the season with in Australia.

Merc in strong position but have tyre "weaknesses"
Though Mercedes have made their worst start to the season since the hybrid era began in terms of race wins, with the six F1 2018 victories shared between three teams and three drivers, they are still leading both championships.

But the Silver Arrows are still anticipating another battle with Ferrari and Red Bull this weekend, with all sessions live and exclusive on Sky Sports F1.

"We can see that we are in a stronger position in both championships than we were 12 months ago," said Wolff. "But we also know that the battle is more fierce, with ourselves, Ferrari and Red Bull in the contention for race wins every weekend; there is not a moment to relax."

The Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve certainly seems to suit Mercedes, and in particular Hamilton. The Englishman's six wins means it his most successful F1 track, and he has only qualified off the front row once.

"In recent years, Mercedes has performed well in Montreal - and it's one of Lewis' most successful circuits, too," Wolff added. "However, past performances bring no guarantee of success this year.

"We will need to make sure we get the most from all the tyre compounds, including the Hypersoft, if we want to come out on top this weekend."

Mercedes' hypersoft struggles at the compound's debut in Monaco were profound, with chief engineer Andrew Shovlin calling it a "weakness", but were still masked somewhat by a tight circuit.

McLaren have rejected an approach for their reserve driver Lando Norris to race for Toro Rosso this season.

Red Bull had wanted the Englishman, 18, who races in Formula 2, to replace New Zealander Brendon Hartley in their junior team for the rest of this year.

But McLaren preferred to keep Norris on his current trajectory.

A McLaren spokesman said: "We are not surprised that other teams approach our drivers. They clearly believe they are as talented as we do."

Toro Rosso refused to comment.

The team, who are used as a proving ground for Red Bull's young drivers, are said to have been looking for a deal that would have potentially allowed them to keep Norris beyond the end of 2018

Norris, who is currently leading the F2 championship, is one of the brightest rising stars in motorsport and could potentially be promoted to a McLaren race seat in 2019.

Alonso holds the key

However, the team will be looking to resolve the future of their lead driver, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso, before making any further decisions.

The 36-year-old Spaniard says he has not yet decided whether to remain in Formula 1 next season.

Although there are potentially open seats at all three leading teams in F1 - Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - none are believed to be interested in signing Alonso, even though he is still regarded as one of the very best drivers on the grid.

Alonso has set as his target to win motorsport's so-called 'triple crown' of the Monaco Grand Prix, which he has already won twice, the Le Mans 24 Hours and the Indianapolis 500.

McLaren are assessing whether to set up an Indycar team and one possibility is that Alonso could either do a full programme in the US-based series next year, or dovetail an F1 season with a second attempt at the Indy 500.

Alonso raced at Indy with McLaren in 2017 and was contending for victory until suffering an engine failure in the closing stages.

If Alonso stays in F1, there is a very real possibility Norris could be promoted as his team-mate in 2019.

And the chase is not over yet

McLaren's rejection of Red Bull's initial approach does not necessarily mean the end of Toro Rosso's bid to grab Norris.

Red Bull could come back with a different offer that is more amenable to McLaren.

And one source close to the situation has told BBC Sport that McLaren have to offer Norris a full-time race seat by a date in October this year or he is free to join another team - such as Toro Rosso - for the final two races.

A McLaren spokesman said he was "not in a position to get into that detail".

However, McLaren also have to resolve the future of their other race driver this year, Stoffel Vandoorne.

The Belgian has struggled to match Alonso since becoming his team-mate last year but is regarded as highly talented and will be given more time this season to prove himself.

McLaren like change

McLaren have brought in former Indycar driver Gil De Ferran as a roving adviser, and one of the Brazilian's responsibilities is to help in the development of the team's young drivers.

De Ferran is attending grands prix for McLaren and has been charged with offering advice or opinion on any subject he considers might be worthwhile.

The team have had a disappointing start to the season, in the context of their ambition to race with Red Bull following their switch to the same Renault engine.

In fact, although their championship position is much improved over last year, when they finished second last, the car has proved to be about 1.5 seconds a lap slower than the Red Bull.

This has led to major ructions within McLaren, who have split with chief technical officer Tim Goss, and are restructuring their technical department having realised they have fallen a long way behind the best teams in design capability.

Poor old Hartley

Hartley, a two-time world endurance champion, is in his first full season in F1 having made a debut in the closing stages of last season after Spaniard Carlos Sainz moved to Renault and Red Bull dropped Russian Daniil Kvyat.

However, Red Bull have grown frustrated by a series of mistakes by the New Zealander and his future in the team is in doubt.

Mercedes’ Niki Lauda and Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko were their usual outspoken selves when discussing the futures of Lewis Hamilton and Daniel Ricciardo.

Both drivers are out of contract at the end of the season and neither of them have committed their long-term futures at this stage.

And, at an event hosted by the Red Bull Ring where Marc Marquez tested the RB08 in Toro Rosso colours, Lauda and Marko gave their unique insights into the current contract situation.

“Lewis will sign. We only discuss details, not the money,” Lauda said via Kronen Zeitung.

“It’s about promotion performances. Lewis stays safely with us, that will be solved.”

To which Marko replied: “I hope that finally gets signed. Because Ricciardo says that, as long as Hamilton is not yet contracted to Mercedes, he also does not want to sign.

“It’s a bit strange!”

Lauda then suggested Ricciardo was playing a smart game and stirred the pot a little more.

“Ricciardo blackmailed you with Hamilton, who has not yet signed. What Hamilton gets, he can not get anyway. So. We have not made him an offer,” Lauda added.

Marko countered by hinting that Ricciardo would not be welcome by all at Mercedes.

“He [Ricciardo] should now sign with you.” Marko responded.

“But there is someone at Mercedes, who may not like that!”

Marko also reiterated that Red Bull’s decision on their engine partner for next season and beyond is set to be finalised by early next month.

He said: “The internal timetable means there’s a decision on the engine issue, and possibly that’s also on the driver’s mind, until the Austrian GP.”

Reliability concerns have forced Mercedes to delay using a new engine that had been planned for this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix.

The world champions said "quality issues" meant their second-generation 2018 power-unit would be used at the subsequent race in France instead.

The team will now race with an engine towards the end of its life at a circuit where power is important.

But Mercedes said the decision would not affect performance or reliability.

A spokesman said the engine to be raced in Montreal was not being asked to do more miles than intended - it had originally been scheduled to be used again at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.

However, the age of the power-unit would have been less of an issue at the slower, twisty Hungaroring track.

The spokesman added that the decision would not impact the amount of time the drivers could use an engine's various power modes over the weekend.

Mercedes' decision affects all of its teams and drivers, so in addition to factory drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, Force India's Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon and Williams' Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin will also stick with the engines they have been using since the start of the season.

Rival engine manufacturers Honda and Renault are pressing ahead with planned power-unit upgrades this weekend.

However, not all the drivers from the Renault-powered Red Bull, Renault and McLaren teams may get the upgrade, depending on how taking it would affect their closeness to penalties for excessive engine usage.

Red Bull technical director Adrian Newey said earlier this week that Daniel Ricciardo would receive a grid penalty of at least 10 places this weekend as a result of new parts required following an engine problem that afflicted the Australian on his way to victory at the last race in Monaco.

Newey said the Renault upgrade was worth about 0.1 seconds a lap.

Both Toro Rosso drivers, Pierre Gasly and Brendon Hartley, will have an upgraded Honda engine.

Ferrari are also expected to use an upgraded engine for all their teams, but this has not yet been officially confirmed.

The FIA has revealed a new helmet standard that will be mandatory in Formula 1 from the 2019 season.

The latest standard will offer improved safety, according to the governing body, as it will include advanced ballistic protection and increased energy absorption.

It will be mandatory in F1 from 2019 and in other championships soon after, said the FIA, which worked with helmet manufacturers Stilo, Bell Racing, Schuberth and Arai during the research phase.

The top of the helmet's visor opening has been lowered by 10mm to incorporate advanced ballistic protection that "achieves unprecedented levels of safety during impact from debris," according to a FIA statement.

The shell construction uses advanced composite materials to ensure resistance to crushing and penetration.

"The current top-end helmets are already the safest in the world but the new standard will take them to the next level," said FIA safety director Laurent Mekies.

"It is important for all of our safety research that we continually strive to improve and this is why we are requiring all manufacturers to meet this tougher standard for our championships."

Under the new FIA 8860-2018 standard all helmets must withstand the following tests:

Standard impact: Helmet impact at 9.5m/s. Peak deceleration on 'driver's head' shall not exceed 275G.

Low velocity impact: Helmet impact at 6m/s. Peak deceleration shall not exceed 200G with a maximum average of 180g.

Low lateral impact: Helmet impact at 8.5m/s. Peak deceleration shall not exceed 275G.

Advanced Ballistic Protection: A 225g metal projectile fired at 250km/h. The peak deceleration shall not exceed 275G.

Crush: A 10kg weight falling 5.1 metres onto helmet. Lateral and longitudinal tests. The transmitted force should not exceed 10 kN.

Shell penetration: A 4kg impactor dropped onto helmet at 7.7 m/s.

Visor penetration: Air rifle fires 1.2g pellet at visor. Pellet must not penetrate the interior of the helmet.

Visor coating: Transmitter test to ensure colouration and vision is not significantly changed or distorted.

Retention system: Roll-off test and dynamic test to ensure strength of chin strap and its attachments.

Chin guard linear impact: Impact test with full headform at 5.5m/s. The peak deceleration shall not exceed 275G.

Chin guard crush: Hammer hits chin guard and measures ability to keep impact away from the head.

FHR mechanical strength: Test to ensure high strength of attachment points for Frontal Head Restraints.

Projection and surface friction: Test to ensure helmet surface uniformity and that friction is minimised. Shell surface also subjected to BARCOL hardness test for resistance to penetration.

Flammability: Helmet exposed to 790 C° flame; it must self-extinguish once flame is removed.

Daniel Ricciardo hopes to avoid taking a Formula 1 grid penalty during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend, despite the loss of the MGU-K that failed at Monaco

Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey had said he expected a penalty for using a third MGU-K of the season in Canada, which would mean a 10-place drop for exceeding the maximum allowed in a season of two.

But Ricciardo will use the MGU-K he used at the start of the season before it was changed during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend.

He will only be hit with a grid penalty in Canada if that MGU-K needs to be replaced.

"Currently, no. I've been told there's no penalty," said Ricciardo, when asked about the possibility of a grid drop.

"If something happens tomorrow in practice and we're forced to change something, then I'll get a penalty, but for now we've got enough parts to run and if it runs reliably then we'll do the whole weekend on it."

Ricciardo expects to be given a penalty for using a third MGU-K later in the season.

He admitted this could come as early as the French Grand Prix in two weeks' time.

"Yeah, I guess, it could come as soon as Paul Ricard," said Ricciardo when asked by Motorsport.com if he expects such a penalty later in the campaign.

"When I heard whispers about a potential penalty here, I was at that point [saying] I'll take it in Paul Ricard but not here.

"This is such a difficult circuit for overtaking and obviously having such good momentum at the moment, a penalty would really take a bit of wind out of our sails.

"If we can escape this weekend without it, I'd rather take it somewhere else."

Ricciardo added that there was a strategic element to the decision both because of the need to extend the life of the original MGU-K as far as possible and his hopes of Red Bull being competitive in Canada.

The fact Red Bull was strong using the hypersoft Pirelli tyres in Monaco also played into this decision.

"We'll try and go as long as we can to delay it, because the earlier we take a penalty, then maybe [the risk] we have to take another one before the year is out [is increased]," said Ricciardo.

"But also, we were good on the hypersoft in Monaco and maybe it gives us another chance this weekend to have a strong race.

"We feel, on paper, this circuit should suit us more than maybe a couple of the others coming up.

"Winning two in a row would be nice, so we'll try. Starting 15th, it would be very unlikely."

Renault has revealed a new version of its halo mirrors ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix, after it was forced to make a change to its original concept.

The French car manufacturer has been evaluating a change of mirror design ever since the FIA announced several weeks ago that teams could mount them to the halo.

It fitted a 3D-printed version of its idea at the post-Spanish Grand Prix test to check on driver visibility, but its plans to take the design further were scuppered when the FIA clamped down on aerodynamic supports in the wake of Ferrari’s design.

This meant the original Renault version, which featured a support similar to the aerodynamic version that was outlawed by the FIA, had to be reconfigured.

Renault technical director Nick Chester said recently: “We had a rapid prototyped one running off the halo, but that wouldn't work with the TD [technical directive] so we're looking at a different way of doing a halo-mounted mirror.”

As Giorgio Piola’s exclusive photograph shows, Renault has revised its design with a more straightforward support.

It is unclear yet how soon the team is considering racing it, but the fact that it is taped to the halo suggests it is not a fully complete design yet – and may still be only at a stage where it wants to evaluate driver visibility.

The parts store at Haas HQ is looking a little threadbare, according to Team Principal Guenther Steiner, and as a result he's given his drivers one guiding principle to get them through the Canadian Grand Prix: "No crashes this weekend!"Haas’s crash-strewn start to the season – in particular with Romain Grosjean, who had significant shunts in both Baku and Barcelona – has left a dearth of spare parts available to be bolted onto the Frenchman's and team mate Kevin Magnussen’s VF-18s, with Steiner describing the spares situation as ‘very lean’.

"The spare situation with old parts, it's quite bad," he said. “I think with the spares position we are in now, we had a few crashes lately, so that never helps you. And at the same time we were planning to do the upgrades, so you had both things going on and that's why you end up with no parts. It's one of those things.”

So thin on the ground are Haas’s spares currently that Steiner revealed that the team opted to remove certain parts in Monaco to avoid the risk of damage – something that would explain their lack of pace over the weekend, with Magnussen and Grosjean only managing to finish 13th and 15th places respectively.

“In Monte Carlo, we had issues. We had to take some parts off the car just not to lose them,” Steiner said. “We were conscious to not put anything at risk. We know how much downforce we lost with that, so we can get back why we lost the time. It's not like, 'Wow, we performed bad and we don't know why'. We know why, and that's a good thing.”

Despite the lack of spares, Haas are bringing a major upgrade to Canada, with Steiner cautiously optimistic about how the alterations would improve the performance of the VF-18, which has proven to be a rapid machine in certain conditions in 2018.

“Quite significant, I would call it,” Steiner said when asked about the extent of the upgrade, which includes changes to the front wing and bargeboard. “But I'm always careful with updates because I've never seen a car in the middle of the season do magic. Our car is not bad. We just need to keep up with doing updates… because we need to develop.”

Steiner cited Haas’s relative newness – they only entered F1 in 2016 – compared to other teams as the prime reason they’ve ended up in the spare parts situation they find themselves in, and says it’s an area they will prioritise going forward.

“Like everything, all the performances need to get better. We need to get quicker,” he said. “It's a long process from aero development, to aero sign-off... to structural analysis to production, so… in that span of six to eight weeks, we need to find two weeks to get quicker so we can up the game. And that just comes with experience. We need to go through the learning phase there.”

Michael Andretti was at the Canadian Grand Prix last weekend, and Joe Saward reported he wasn't just there to lure Fernando Alonso to the IndyCar series; he was there to talk about a potential Force India takeover as well.

The veteran reporter noticed that because of the people Andretti was with, he couldn't have been there just for Alonso.

“It was clear that this [Alonso] was not Michael’s only purpose for being in Montreal, as he was accompanied by his company president J-F Thormann and the familiar figure of Pieter Rossi, father of Andretti driver, Indy 500 winner and sometime F1 driver, Alexander Rossi.

“Visits to Liberty Media and Force India suggested that they were there to sniff around and see if a deal could be put together to acquire the troubled team.

"It seems, from multiple sources, that a financial solution is required VERY quickly if Force India is going to avoid getting into financial and legal trouble.

“Having an Andretti team in F1 would be a terrific thing as the World Championship seeks to make a bigger impression in the United States.

“[Force India] is a great opportunity as there is a competitive turnkey F1 operation, which would simply require a bit of rebranding, but Andretti and is unlikely to jump in unless he knows what it is going to cost, and that is not going to be certain until we get an answer to the question of the F1 budget cap – and the length of its glide path. ”

Romain Grosjean has described Haas's update package as the best one the team has produced during its time in Formula 1.

The American team brought a significant set of upgrades to Montreal, although an engine problem for Grosjean at the start of qualifying prevented him from taking part in a session where he believed "seventh was in our pocket" behind the leading teams.

Grosjean felt more comfortable with the updated car than teammate Kevin Magnussen, who qualified 11th and struggled to make progress in the race.

But the team believes on more conventional circuits the performance of the car in its latest spec will become clearer.

When asked by Motorsport.com how the update compared to what he's seen from the team since it joined the grid in 2016, Grosjean said: "It's the best one. The biggest one, and the best.

"The upgrade is very nice – from the first lap in FP1 I knew it was going to be. We've got some good front end [grip] there, which I'm very happy with, and more downforce in general.

"Kevin was struggling more with the rear, whereas I don't mind that instability.

"I would rather have a very strong front end mid-corner that allows me to turn the car, and that's what the update was doing for us."

Magnussen believes the team would have been off the pace in Canada without the performance step provided by the new parts.

"We knew this track was not going to be ideal for our car, because we are not the strongest in low-speed corners," he said.

"But we have a clear feeling that our upgrade has delivered what we expected it to, and without it we would have been a lot worse.

"It's a development race, so the other teams are developing their cars as well, but I'm confident as it stands now, with this upgrade, we would still be in the race for fourth best car.

"I'm sure at some faster circuits we will be similar to what we were in Barcelona [best of the rest behind the top three teams]."

Team boss Gunther Steiner was encouraged by the upgrade delivering what was promised from the data provided at the factory.

"It was always the plan for this to be the best upgrade we've had," he said.

"Before we introduced it we looked at the numbers from the windtunnel and it was obvious that it was the biggest gain we've done.

"We had this at the beginning of the season with this car, when we went through the numbers from the Barcelona test.

"Our windtunnel and aero group does a good job. What they give us from the windtunnel model correlates with what we get on the track, which is important."

Formula 1 world champion Lewis Hamilton believes grand prix racing will change for the better after being stuck "in the Stone Age" compared to other major sports.

After criticising the unveiling of a possible circuit design for the mooted F1 race in Miami, Hamilton said he did not understand why drivers were not consulted over big decisions.

While he does not expect that to change, Hamilton does believe the Liberty Media era of F1 will make progress in other areas, like social media and international appeal.

Asked if drivers would be considered more in the future, Hamilton replied: "Nope. It hasn't ever been the case up until now, so I don't anticipate it being the case in the future.

"But I do believe in Chase [Carey, F1 CEO] and his team wanting to bring change.

"Really, Formula 1 has been in the Stone Age compared to NFL and soccer and all big other sports and we're trying to catch up, but it's a long process.

"It's a big job for Chase – he has only come in a couple of years ago, before that social media wasn't allowed in. Bernie [Ecclestone, former F1 CEO] said it was not important.

"Now something as big as social media is huge and a really powerful platform, and now that's allowed if people want to use it."

As well as a race in Miami, F1 has also been linked with a first-ever grand prix in Vietnam.

More than a quarter of the GPs on the current calendar – Bahrain, China, Singapore, Abu Dhabi, Russia and Azerbaijan – did not have a race prior to 2004.

Hamilton said it was great for F1 to be adding new territories but said it needed to be meaningful growth.

"It's a real slow process to broadcast Formula 1 around the world," said Hamilton. "It's crazy to think Formula 1 is still so unknown in so many territories, yet it's global and on TV.

"There's more to be done, but I think they're doing the right steps.

"Having more races in the US is a good thing. I'm looking forward to it, but the actual racing needs to be super-exciting still."

FIA race director Charlie Whiting has backed up Sebastian Vettel's claim that drivers can save time by using clever lines under a virtual safety car.

However, he says the potential gains are very small, and the FIA will now act to rectify the loophole.

Vettel made his comments after the Spanish GP, saying that it was possible for drivers to "beat" the system by driving lines that cut distance, and that they wouldn't use in normal racing conditions.

"It's the same for everyone but the FIA is supplying us with a system that makes us follow a delta time," he said.

"And everybody has to slow down by, I think, 40 percent, but I think everybody's aware you can have a faster way to go under VSC than just follow the delta – by saving distance.

"So, I think we should have a system that hasn't got this loophole, because it forces us to drive ridiculous lines around the track, and everybody's doing it, so I don't think it's a secret.

"Our sport should be in a better shape than supplying software that's just poor and allows us to find some extra performance that way."

At the time, Whiting disagreed with Vettel's claim but after some research he admits there is something to it.

"Yes, I've worked it out now," he explained in Montreal. "The calculation that the system does every 50 metres is based on the distance from the timing line.

"So if you can shorten that, you can gain tiny fractions. The way we've calculated it with our software guys is you can possibly gain about 150 milliseconds [per lap].

"But in Formula 1 that's worth having. But that's the extent of it, as far as it was explained to be me by our software people. We can rectify it, and make it a bit more bulletproof."