Following criticism from Red Bull at the Hungarian Grand Prix, Renault F1 boss Cyril Abiteboul has said his company has no interest in dealing with their soon-to-be former engine partners any more.

Max Verstappen launched an expletive-laden rant at Renault after his early retirement in Budapest. That prompted Christian Horner to say Red Bull, which will switch to Honda power in 2019, is not getting what it pays for from its current engine supplier, adding: "I'll wait to hear Cyril's excuses later."

Abiteboul and Horner have a frosty relationship and have clashed repeatedly during the V6 turbo era, which started with the introduction of the new engines in 2014. Despite coming into that season having won four consecutive world championship titles together, Red Bull-Renault has claimed just 11 race victories in the five years since.

Responding to Horner's most recent comments, Abiteboul told Autosport: "Our bosses have stopped reading what Christian Horner is saying about us since 2015. It's very clear that we don't want to have any dealings with them any more. It's very clear it's done.

"They will have their engine partner that will be paying a hell of a lot of money to get their product on board, and I wish them good luck. I have nothing else to say."

On Monday, Verstappen, who had also labelled Renault "completely s---" when talking to German TV after the race, rowed back on his own criticism, explaining that he was simply frustrated in the heat of the moment.

Williams, Force India and Red Bull provided a first on-track glimpse at Formula 1's 2019 front wing regulations on the opening morning of the two-day test in Hungary.

The two teams had publicly declared their intent to run experimental front wings at the Hungaroring and opted to do so immediately on Tuesday morning.

Both completed multiple laps with the new device, which is 200mm wider and 25mm deeper and features less complicated endplates and wing elements.

The Red Bull and Force India designs featured four flaps above the main wing plane, with long, slightly curved endplates, making it an in-wash front wing.

This stops teams being able to push the air around the outside of the tyre.

The Williams wing had similar endplates but four flaps above a main plane that splits in two either side of the middle, similar to its 2018 design.

Turning vanes were absent from both, as dictated by the incoming rules, which are intended to make it easier for cars to follow each other more closely than has been possible in 2017 and 2018.

Red Bull kept its run plan simple with Daniel Ricciardo completing an outlap at the beginning of the day, while Williams tasked Oliver Rowland tasked with multiple outlaps.

Nicholas Latifi completed several outlaps before conducting a low-speed multi-lap run, seven seconds off the pace, with aero rakes attached.

The teams will be looking to get baseline data from these runs so they can correlate their simulation work back at the factory.

This morning's test started with all nine participating teams hitting the track early.

Brendon Hartley set the early pace for Toro Rosso on a 1m20.306s, ahead of McLaren's Lando Norris and Sauber's Marcus Ericsson.

Antonio Giovinazzi (Ferrari), Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull), Nico Hulkenberg (Renault) and George Russell (Mercedes) are also driving on Tuesday, while Toro Rosso has a second car for Formula 2 racer Sean Gelael to conduct Pirelli tyre testing.

Haas is absent from the test as it did not feel it was its best use of resources.

Despite all its efforts so far, Liberty has failed to convince Renault, McLaren or Williams to sign up to an agreement that would effectively hand Force India a cash lifeline.

Under terms of the bilateral agreements between the teams and F1’s commercial rights holders (still commonly referred to as the Concorde Agreement), a team emerging from administration (Force India’s current status) is regarded as a new entity and can only retain its prize money rights of its former guise if all teams agree.

As of now Renault, McLaren and Williams steadfastly refuse to do so.

On the surface, this looks a shameless piece of opportunism, to kick a rival when it’s down. However, word in the paddock is that neither spite nor money is at the heart of this matter, but their real concern is that Force India is being teed up by Mercedes to become a so-called ‘slave team’.

They feel this would serve to increase the power base of one of the sport’s two major manufacturers to their detriment and that of the sport in general.

Some within the paddock believe that Ferrari and Mercedes have pushed the boundaries of second-string teams far enough, and that Mercedes playing a central role in a Force India takeover would add further strength to the dominance of the German manufacturer in F1 matters.

Force India’s recently strong on-track performances haven’t been matched by its financial situation. Owner Vijay Mallya has faced well-documented legal issues in India, as has his investment partner Sahara Group.

A technical supplier recently launched a winding-up order against the Silverstone-based team, which could have triggered insolvency.

So the move into the safety net of administration followed an action led by driver Sergio Perez. A High Court judge ruled in favour of that on Friday, with FRP Advisory being appointed to see what can be done for creditors and secure the future of the team.

The last two F1 teams to fail – Caterham and Manor – both went into administration, but failed to emerge with a credible buyer. Although the most recent Manor effort was born after Marussia was rescued from administration at the start of 2015 (you might also recall that Force India attempted to block it from using a 2014 car).

Force India’s value – having finished fourth in the past two seasons in the constructors’ championship – is much higher in the eyes of potential purchasers.

Unless Liberty can get unanimity from the teams, something in the region of $70million in prize money will be precluded from any deal. To put that in context, that’s at least half of the team’s entire yearly budget.

Worse than that, the way that F1’s prize fund works is that the team would need to finished in the top 10 for two of the next three years to qualify for any money at all. That in effect means no prize income until 2021 – unless, again, the other teams agree.

You might think that, as the owner of F1, Liberty could simply appropriate the funds as it sees fit. But the Concorde bilateral agreements are complex documents that allow no room for manoeuvre, so perhaps its only recourse would be to make a one-off ‘bail out’ payment to make up for the shortfall. However, this would set a dangerous precedent.

One F1 insider has likened the scale of this crisis to the global financial crash of 2008, and points out that it took for banking giant Lehman Brothers to collapse before emergency plans were put in place that prompted an industry-wide recovery.

As of today, it seems that Renault, McLaren and Williams are ready to play hardball in defence of their own positions in the sport – and that a Lehman-style collapse of a rival may be viewed as a price worth paying to achieve that.

It’s an unpleasant spot for them to be in too, but it’s clearly a case of fighting your own corner or rolling over and risking your own demise. To complicate matters yet further, Williams is a customer of Mercedes – and just last week was reported to be discussing an increase to its deal to include gearboxes.

But the prospect of Force India (or whatever name it takes on in future) having concrete ties to the works team would surely weaken Williams’ position. Unless there’s some more bargaining to be done…

Ron Dennis famously welcomed Eddie Jordan to the ‘Piranha Club’ when he joined F1 in 1991. Throughout the sport’s history, the paddock predators have seemed ready and willing to turn on one of their own for the sake of what they see is the greater good.

This time, however, the cost wouldn’t be small fry – but Jordan's 'old' team, the most successful midfield outfit of recent times.

Can Liberty really allow that to happen?

Kimi Raikkonen is still waiting to hear if he has a job driving for Ferrari F1 in 2019.

Not long ago, an Italian newspaper reported that Ferrari leadership was ready to replace Raikkonen with Charles Leclerc. However, that was before the death of then Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne. It is believed the new management now thinks Raikkonen should be retained as Sebastian Vettel's teammate.

Other reports have Raikkonen returning to Sauber to close out his F1 career.

"Of course I would like to stay, but it's Ferrari's decision alone," Raikkonen told European media outlet Sport Bild. "I'm waiting just as much as you are."

Raikkonen, 38, said he works well alongside Vettel and has no problem playing second fiddle to the four-time Formula 1 champion.

"Even if we crash, there's no issue after a conversation," Raikkonen said. "He's a guy who will say it's his mistake and I'm the same. It's much better to work in that atmosphere, and it also makes the car faster. We both have the same goal -- to make Ferrari world champion."

Raikkonen hinted that he knows team orders are part of the job at Ferrari, especially if Vettel has a better chance of winning the title.

"At a certain point in the world championship, the team takes precedence," Raikkonen said. "I did not arrive yesterday."

Who should replace Ricciardo at Red Bull?

Why Ricciardo’s obvious replacement may not get the gig

On the face of it, Daniel Ricciardo’s shock move to Renault for the 2019 F1 season could be expected to have only a limited impact on the driver market.

In the shape of Carlos Sainz Jnr Red Bull has an obvious replacement in waiting. Last October Red Bull team principal Christian Horner described him as the team’s “safety net” in case Ricciardo walked.

Sainz did a superb job last year, scoring all bar five of Toro Rosso’s 53 points before being loaned out to Renault, where he’s been ever since. With Ricciardo now on his way to the French manufacturer, the obvious move for Red Bull is to recall the 23-year-old and give him his shot in a front-running team.

But when Red Bull responded to the news of Ricciardo’s impending departure, which RaceFans broke this morning, there was no confirmation of a place for Sainz:

“We will now continue to evaluate the numerous options available to us before deciding on which driver partners Max Verstappen for the 2019 season,” said team principal Christian Horner.

[...]

Three-time Formula 1 world champion Niki Lauda is recovering after undergoing a successful lung transplant. According to reports, the 69-year-old was flown to Vienna for treatment after becoming ill while vacationing in Ibiza. Local media had previously reported that he had been hospitalized, but the Vienna General Hospital confirmed the transplant in a statement in Thursday. “Due to a severe lung disease Niki Lauda had to undergo a lung transplantation at the AKH Vienna today,” it read. “The transplantation was successfully performed by Walter Klepetko, Head of the Clinical Department of Thoracic Surgery, and Konrad Hötzenecker. We ask for your understanding that the family will not make any public statements and request the privacy of the Lauda family.” Lauda, who previously required kidney transplants in 1997 and 2005, is a non-executive chairman of the Mercedes Formula 1 team, and owns a percentage of the team. He suffered injuries to his lungs in his near-fatal crash at the 1976 German Grand Prix.

Verstappen opposes Sainz reunion at Red Bull

According to Spanish daily Marca, the Verstappen camp is very much against the idea of reuniting the Dutchman and current Renault man.

Verstappen’s negative view of the Spaniard could see Pierre Gasly get his shot with the senior Red Bull team.

If that was to be the case, then Sainz could find refuge over at McLaren, where Zak Brown has already partly opened the door.

The breakthrough which made Leclerc F1’s new star of 2018

Just two races into the new Formula 1 season, Sauber team principal Frederic Vasseur faced some searching questions over the performance of his new driver Charles Leclerc.

The 20-year old had arrived in F1 amid a blaze of hype, being the first driver ever to win back-to-back GP3 and F2 titles. But Marcus Ericsson, Leclerc’s little-heralded team mate who had gone two years without scoring a point, showed him the way in the opening rounds.

Ericsson delivered the team’s first points of the year in Bahrain. Leclerc, meanwhile, tried an aggressive strategy which failed to pay off.

When the teams arrived in Shanghai four days later, Vasseur was quizzed on whether beating a driver of Leclerc’s reputation emboldening Ericsson. The suggestion was shut down firmly.

“Don’t take some strong position like this that yesterday one was nowhere and now is the superstar and Charles now is dominated by Marcus,” said Vasseur. “It’s not like this and real life is not like this.”

He was right. But four months on the opposite is now true: Leclerc is dominating Ericsson. In the nine-race run from China to Germany he out-qualified the team’s senior driver every time, by a crushing average of three-quarters of a second – and that’s generously excluding Ericsson’s Baku effort where he couldn’t get a clear lap in.

At one stage there were even rumours Leclerc would take the place of Kimi Raikkonen at Ferrari in time for the next race at Spa. Since then tragic events have forced Ferrari to concentrate on other priorities, but it’s a reflection of the esteem in which he is held by the Scuderia.

What was behind Leclerc’s initial struggles and rapid improvement? Vasseur, who has worked with him since he was in karts, said the pair spoke often before the season began about how significant the gap in performance and complexity is between F2 and F1.

“He was fully aware that the situation won’t be easy because there’s a huge step between Formula Two and Formula One, that he had to discover the fuel management and so on in the first races,” said Vasseur. “It’s never easy to do it. He knew that it won’t be so easy.”

But even before the opening series of flyaway races was done with, Leclerc was making huge gains. His troubled start to the opening races was quickly forgotten.

“Many people are telling me it was a smooth start,” said Leclerc. “But I remember that after the third race actually people were saying it was a difficult start. Which was probably true.

“I struggled in the first three races, there was a lot of new things to me. But I probably did not expect things to go well as quickly. From Baku onwards we really did a big step up and we kept that performance. That very sudden step, probably I did not expect.”

Understanding how to work with his engineers to extract more performance from the car has been a major part of his development, said Leclerc.

“Everything is so new that you need to take a little bit the rhythm of the weekends, of how to work with your engineers, of what to ask to the car which is very important.

“Driving is one thing but what you ask to the car, or what you ask to the engineer to do on the car is also extremely important and I think I did a big step on that after the first three races and that has helped me also to improve the driving on an easier car to drive. I think it was a bit of a combination of everything that made a step up.”

As a Ferrari development driver, Leclerc has been able to use the team’s simulator to practice tracks he hasn’t driven on yet. And of course it helps enormously that Sauber’s C37, with a current-specification Ferrari power unit which now appears to be F1’s class-leader, is a much more competitive prospect than the team’s 2017 car.

However as Leclerc points out the young driver ladder does little to prepare new F1 drivers for one of the most important aspects of their job: helping the team make their car faster.

“When you start in Formula Renault until Formula Two the car is completely fixed in terms of development. So you only really have to do the set-ups, and the set-up more come from the year before.

“So you just arrive on the track, you take the car they give you, and then you work on the set-up. In terms of developing the car and having a future vision for the car and what to add on the car to go quicker, this is something completely new to me. But we have also very good engineers that know what are the weaknesses of the car and what we need to improve.”

Another aspect of this has been learning that in F1 having a well-balanced car is not necessarily the same thing as having a quick car.

“I find it quite difficult actually for the driver because in junior categories it’s about the balance of the car, because when you have the right balance, everyone has the same cars, so you are going quick.

“In Formula 1 you can have a really good balance but if the actual package is not good enough it’s difficult then to find the real weaknesses of the car. This is something I’ll probably learn with years.”

The results have been there for all to see since it ‘clicked’ for Leclerc. He’s the only Sauber driver to reach Q3, which he’s done three times. He’s scored 13 of the team’s 18 points. And he’s seldom been found wanting in wheel-to-wheel battle, even when up against the likes of Fernando Alonso.

With Leclerc widely expected to gain a Ferrari promotion for the 2019 F1 season, Vasseur now gets asked very different questions about his young star. “I would like just to remind you that all of you were around the table in China and you were quite discouraged with the level of Charles,” he jokingly reminded journalists during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend.

The Sauber team principal now has the opposite task of containing expectations about F1’s emerging talent. “I think we have to take it calm. He is doing a good job, for sure, he is improving.

“But he’s not world champion and you have to do step by step and I don’t want to be in a situation that if he has some issues in the next races – and he will have because you can’t have a clean sheet all the season – I don’t want to have Charles destroyed by everybody that he’s not world champion.

“He has to improve. He has a very good learning curve. He’s ramping up. I’m very happy and very proud of the job done but he’s not world champion.”

Not yet, but on the strength of his first half-season the ingredients are clearly there.