Renault Sport managing director Cyril Abiteboul believes Red Bull's use of an alternative fuel supplier could be hurting them achieve maximum performance from the engine.

While the French manufacturer and McLaren use BP Castrol for their fuel and other lubricants, the Milton Keynes outfit has Exxon Mobil after the company actually switched from McLaren during their Honda woes.

That means that while development of the engine and lubricants is undertaken with both suppliers, it is BP Castrol that get greater priority and as a result, could see Red Bull lag behind a little.

“I was secretly hoping that Red Bull would have the pace to win,” Abiteboul told Autosport after they brought an upgrade to the Canadian GP last weekend.

“They were very, very close to that, but not quite there. We have more to come, and they could have more to come from the fuel.”

Currently, there is greater tension between Red Bull and their supplier as they consider whether to stick or switch to Honda for 2019, with Renault threatening to leave them no choice but to change if a decision isn't taken soon.

That could be why Abiteboul is looking to divert some blame away if the Anglo-Austrian squad feel the upgrade didn't work as well as hoped, but as the Frenchman pointed out, it is their own decision.

"Something that is clear, we can guarantee an equity of performance of what is in our control, which is hardware, which is software,” he continued.

“They elected themselves for strategic and commercial reasons to go for their own [fuel and lubricants] partner, which we appreciate and we support by homologating their product,” 

Staff at McLaren's factory in Woking are "furious" with the team's current leadership and want former chief Martin Whitmarsh to return, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

Despite claims that a switch from Honda engines to Renault for 2018 would solve their lack of competitiveness, that has not necessarily been the case with the team struggling over a single lap in qualifying and still well short of their hopes of fighting at the front.

Results have been a little more consistent with Fernando Alonso scoring points in each of the first five races but reliability problems have forced the Spaniard out of the last two while Stoffel Vandoorne finished second-last in Canada a week ago.

It was the performance last weekend in Montreal that was reportedly the final straw for those back at base, with the British newspaper claiming staff were left shocked by the "incompetence of their leaders" after racing director Eric Boullier failed to provide an explanation for their lack of pace.

Now speculation suggests they could approach ex-team principal Whitmarsh, who remains in close contact with majority shareholder Mansour Ojjeh, with the Briton claiming it wouldn't be for the first time since Zak Brown took over in 2016.

“People at McLaren said they would send me a letter about the situation. I told them not to send it to me, but to Mansour,” he said.

Whitmarsh, who had a brief role with the Formula One Group and has been working with Ben Ainsley's Americas Cup sailing team since leaving McLaren in 2014, also admitted his own disappointment at the team's slump.

“I love the team and I am desperately sad to see what it has become," he said.

“It needs a big change of approach. There is too much politics between the main figures. I think a number of them have to go. I have explained my view to Mansour and it is for the shareholders to decide what to do.

“I live locally and I bump into friends who work at McLaren. They are disappointed with what is happening and remonstrate with me.

“Tim Goss’s departure pitched me over the edge. Tim has a fantastic intellect and is a hard-working, non-political, value-adding member of the team. He was scapegoated. He may not have all the answers, but he would work on a solution from first principles.”

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Another thing that frustrates him is Brown's apparent focus on projects outside of F1.

“The team used to be all about winning in F1. Now they are looking at other avenues — going to race in IndyCar and Le Mans, for example. They are great things in themselves, but McLaren going in that direction, rather than making Grand Prix racing their sole priority, makes me shudder," he stated.

As for whether Whitmarsh would consider returning to Woking...

“If a delegation showed up at my door, I wouldn’t turn them away,” he added. “They know where I am.”

FIA race director Charlie Whiting is considering switching to an electronic system for the checkered flag following the errors which led to it being waved prematurely in Canada.

A miscommunication between the official on the starters podium and race control was blamed for supermodel Winnie Harlow waving the flag on Lap 69 of what was meant to be a 70-lap race with the official results put back to Lap 68 due to the regulations.

However, with most of the signals now done through electronic LED boards around the circuit, Whiting admits switching the process of ending the race to what would be a flawless system is possible.

“The checkered flag is traditional, but it is something that is prone to mistakes,” he said. “But if you’re going to do it automatically, then you’ve got to think about exactly when you’re going to do it, when you’re going to activate it."

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On Thursday, managing director of motorsport Ross Brawn apologised to Harlow for the "grief" caused as fans criticised the act of giving what is a very critical job to an admittedly uninformed celebrity.

Whiting also again relinquished any responsibility from her, adding: “The celebrity was not to blame, so I don’t think that that is anything that we need to consider.

“We may need to look at other things, like the amount of people that get up there sometimes.”

Williams technical chief Paddy Lowe admits the team does understand the causes of their current lack of pace but solutions remain slow in coming.

The Grove-based team continued to sit at the back of the grid in Canada with Sergey Sirotkin the last finisher and Lance Stroll exiting his home race on Lap 1 following a scary crash with Brendon Hartley.

The mechanics did earn a small moment of joy by winning the raft race on Saturday evening in Montreal and Lowe has praised the continued commitment shown by the team.

"It's a difficult time for everyone, especially the racing team at the track because the same amount of work is done regardless of whether the car is fast or slow," he was quoted by F1i.com.

"It's important to work with a good morale, and that's hard when there are obvious problems with the car."

Revealing what those issues are, he continued: "The problems that we had in Canada are the same we have had since the beginning of the season.

"They are related to aerodynamics, and the solution takes time. We'll deal with them as soon as we can.

"We understand the causes but it's still not easy to eliminate the problems."

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There has been a mini-purge with Ed Wood and Dirk de Beer released from their duties in the aerodynamics department. Despite that, many are wondering just how Williams will overcome their problems.

Some were critical of the decision to take on two youngsters in Sirotkin and Stroll for 2018 and believe their lack of experience isn't helping but Lowe dismissed that claim.

"They're not lacking motivation or energy," he said. "In difficult situations, some drivers start to lose their temper and it can emotionally affect everyone.

"I've worked with an excellent driver in particular, who won many races and more than one title, who at the end of a race would say whatever he thinks.

"So different drivers behave differently in this or that situation. But this does not happen here -- I don't have to worry about it."

Pierre Gasly has revealed he lobbied the bosses at Toro Rosso to change the engine after qualifying at the Canadian GP.

The former GP2 champion was forced to switch to an old specification Honda unit after a problem in practice and was only 16th fastest, making an early exit in Q1.

After the session, the junior Red Bull team would opt to put a fresh engine in his car resulting in a grid penalty, but he would make the most of it moving up from 19th on the grid to 11th, just missing out on a point.

“I said, ‘Okay, I want the new engine in the car’. Otherwise, it will be just too difficult a race and it is better to take the penalty here,” he claimed. 

“I pushed everyone, I pushed with Franz [Tost, team principal], I pushed with Jonathan [Eddolls, chief engineer], I pushed with Tanabe-san [Honda technical director Toyoharu Tanabe], I pushed with everyone.”

For the 22-year-old there was also another motivation for wanting to avoid taking a penalty at the next race.

“We had more chances to finish in the points [in Canada] and also for France it is better because we don’t start far back,” he said, with the race at Paul Ricard the first in his homeland since 2008.

“With the upgrade, if we have a good car there, we can probably expect to have a good weekend,” Gasly added.

Sauber rookie Charles Leclerc has praised the resilience of his team after bouncing back from the disappointment of Monaco to score a point in Canada.

The Formula 2 champion continued his impressive run of form with a fourth consecutive Q2 appearance in qualifying, the first time that has happened since Adrian Sutil in 2015, and capped it off with a third top 10, capitalising on the early drama to finish P10.

It wasn't easy for the Monegasque, however, as he overcame another smaller brake problem late on to hold off Pierre Gasly and Romain Grosjean but to cross the line and reach the 10-point mark for the season was a reason to cheer.

“I am extremely happy about it,” Leclerc said. “We were coming back from a brake issue in Monaco on probably the most difficult track for the brakes in Montreal.

"It was a very big challenge for us but we reacted very well. I am really proud of the work we have done."

The 20-year-old, who is already living up to the hype he generated in junior formulae, admits he has been surprised by how well he has performed.

“I can’t believe that we are having such positive races," he told the F1 website this week. "Actually that’s now four or five races that we are just having amazing results race after race.

"It’s great but we need to keep working and keep improving like we are doing and hopefully it will continue like that."

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Leclerc does have some worries about upcoming races that he feels won't necessarily suit Sauber.

“You just need more downforce on tracks like Le Castellet (Paul Ricard) or the four or five races that are after," he explained. "That’s where we are lacking at the moment.

"We will work and hopefully we will improve but at the moment that is our downside.

"[But] I’m extremely happy with the races we’ve done until now. We’ve taken every opportunity we had to score points and about this, we should be very proud.”

The Belgian GP, one of Formula 1's trademark races, has secured its place on the calendar until 2021 after signing a new three-year deal with Liberty Media on Friday.

Held at the famous Spa-Francorchamps circuit, it is considered one of the most prestigious events of the year among drivers and fans with a trip to the Ardennes Forest considered a must.

In recent years, the rise of Max Verstappen has also provided a very welcome boost for organisers as thousands of Dutch fans flock to Spa to make it a home race for the Red Bull driver, who was actually born in Belgium.

That is why a new contract has been swiftly agreed despite the financial losses the race has made over the years.

“It’s a good deal which ensures that the region of Wallonia retains an event which contributes to the promotion the region on the world stage,” Pierre-Yves Jeholet, Wallonia’s vice president and economy minister, told L’Echo.

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“It’s also a new era because it’s the first time we’re negotiating with the directors of Liberty Media.

“The proceeds for the Wallonian economy were 20.5 million Euros in 2017, an increase of 21 per cent from 2016.”

This could offer some hope for other iconic European races that are coming up for contract renewals with Britain, Italy and Germany all facing uncertain futures.

Former Formula 1 driver turned Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle believes Ferrari must replace Kimi Raikkonen if they want to win championships.

The Finn has been performing well for much of 2018, however, up against the younger lions around him, hasn't got the job done when it matters with his points tally of just 68 after seven races as proof.

Rumblings have begun that the Scuderia is open to retaining the 38-year-old for another season, but Brundle doesn't think he is doing the job even the Italian team wants from him.

“l know he’s one of the most popular drivers around, but after another mistake in qualifying [in Canada], he finished nearly 30 seconds behind his team-mate on Sunday," he wrote on his Sky Sports column.

“What are they going to do? In my view, Kimi has reached the end of the road. He still shows a flash of real speed from time to time but he can’t relentlessly deliver the required race pace any more.

“Nor is he working as an effective rear-gunner to Seb[astian Vettel]."

Instead, the well-respected pundit sees two alternatives that Ferrari must seriously consider if they want to achieve their desired results.

“Winning the Constructors’ Championship is super-important to Ferrari, they don’t put the list of their titles on their road car dashboards for fun – and if they want to win it in this era against Red Bull or Mercedes they need a [Daniel] Ricciardo or a [Charles] Leclerc alongside Vettel next year."

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The main hurdle to that is thought to be the four-time world champion himself, who is well-known as the lead driver at Maranello and is happy with Kimi alongside.

“Vettel needs to deal with that,” was Brundle's response standing by his wish to see a change.

Ricciardo is out of contract with Red Bull at the end of the year, while Leclerc is already showing his potential with three top 10's in the past four race in a Sauber that isn't a midfield leader.

World champion Lewis Hamilton claims owners Liberty Media face a daunting task in bringing Formula 1 out of the "Stone Age" approach of Bernie Ecclestone.

The Briton is always ready to speak his mind on controversial issues, recently slamming the lack of female and racial equality in society, and has also delved into the murky waters of the sport's political scene.

His latest comments revolve around the modernisation that F1's new bosses are looking to undertake, comparing the current status to other major sports around the world.

“Really, F1 has been in the Stone Age compared to NFL and soccer and all big other sports, and we are trying to catch up, but it is a long process,” Hamilton was quoted by PlanetF1.

“It is a big job for Chase [Carey, F1 CEO] – he has only come in a couple of years ago, before the social media was not allowed in. Bernie [Ecclestone] said it was not important.”

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One thing that particularly surprised the Mercedes driver is how the fanbase is still seemingly so restricted in terms of its reach globally.

“It is crazy to think F1 is still so unknown in so many territories, yet it is global and on TV," he said. "There is more to be done but I think they’re [Liberty Media] doing the right steps.”

Carey has previously stated he is willing to listen to all ideas from those within the paddock as to how to improve the sport, but asked if the drivers should play a bigger part, Lewis' feelings were mixed.

“It has not ever been the case up until now, so I don’t anticipate it being the case in the future,” he added.

Toro Rosso driver Brendon Hartley now has the backing of Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko after his first lap incident with Lance Stroll in Canada.

The New Zealander was on the outside of the Williams rounding the high-speed kink of Turn 5 when the hometown favourite oversteered into his car, sending both into the wall and Hartley almost over it.

It was another setback on a week of further speculation that his seat is being offered to other drivers but for now, it seems the former WEC champion and Le Mans winner won't be going anywhere.

“It was, I would say, a racing accident, and has nothing to do about his future,” Marko told Autosport. “He will be in the car [in France].”

The Austrian would then criticise the ongoing rumours describing the "unbelievable stories" about “all the people who say they want to race for Toro Rosso, or they want to put an offer that we didn’t know about".

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Given Marko's history with Toro Rosso drivers though, we know his view could change at any moment and last week McLaren claimed an approach for Lando Norris was made but rebuffed.

On the current situation surrounding their young reserve driver currently competing in F2, CEO Zak Brown added: “If there was an opportunity for Lando to gain experience then that’s something we would consider.

“Lando is a McLaren driver. He has a bright future here, but we do not have an interest in letting Lando go anywhere on a long-term deal.”