In the round-up: New figures reveals Formula One lost 175 million viewers – almost 30% of its audience – over the last six years.
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Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more.
U.S. Bucks Trend With F1 Viewing (Wall Street Journal)
"The global viewership has slipped steadily from 600 million viewers in 2008 to 425 million in 2014."
Fox deal to halve free-to-air F1 schedule (Speed Cafe)
"Only half of the Formula One season will be broadcast live on free-to-air television in Australia under a soon-to-be-signed deal with Fox Sports."
Williams would have voted to allow Marussia to run old car in 2015 season (Sky)
Claire Williams: "We’ve been very clear on our position around Marussia and their entry: we want a full competitive line-up on the grid next year and we will do anything to support Marussia coming back in."
F1 revolution could tempt Newey back (Autosport)
Christian Horner: "If the regulations change and become a little bit more open, and more enticing, then perhaps that will whet his appetite to get further involved."
Ferrari boss Sergio Marchionne not expecting 'miracles' (BBC)
"I am encouraged by the performance of the new car, though it is one thing to do a quick lap, another to do an entire race"
What we can learn from testing at Jerez (MotorSport)
"So, what we think Jerez showed on a best-fit basis, but we cannot be certain, is that Mercedes is still setting the pace, but only by around half a second from Williams and Ferrari and that we have no idea at all yet of the relative pace of Red Bull and McLaren."
Venezuela and the game of ostrich (ESPN)
"The PDVSA-sponsored driver told the attendant media that he was unconcerned, saying 'I am not PDVSA. I am not an expert in oil. For sure, the oil price is suffering at the moment.' When asked whether he was worried, Maldonado's response was 'why?'."
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Getting ready for test one in Barcelona! Felipe will drive the Sauber #C34 on day 1 and 4, Marcus on day 2 and 3. #F1 pic.twitter.com/xuVkipF7se
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Comment of the day
Not many people sympathised with Derek Warwick’s view on last year’s battle between the Mercedes drivers in Bahrain, but at least one person saw where he was coming from:
I think he’s right to point out that Mercedes took a gamble on letting them fight. They must have been confident that the constructor’s title was going to be an easy fight.
When it comes to weighing up your publicity angles, they obviously acknowledged that most fans (as demonstrated very clearly right here) want to see all of the cars allowed to race. They knew it was a risk worth taking and good publicity to be seen to allow their guys to race.
That being said, if it was my team; no way. You’d be able to fight it out after lap one, then until the last pit stop, then you’d be told that your fight is over. And fighting this close would get both drivers spoken to. You’re driving my car, for my team. Don’t like it? Find a new contract to sign.
I love team orders they’re a major part of the sport. One of the reasons I love them? Well, because I love seeing them ignored even more than seeing them issued.
@GongTong
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On this day in F1
The Lotus name returned to Formula One five years ago today as the team (which later became Caterham) launched the T127 for the 2010 season: