Sports Mole rounds up all of the latest news regarding Formula 1 on Wednesday, November 4.

Wednesday morning's Formula 1 news roundup:

Car upgrade successes 'good sign for future' - Leclerc

Ferrari is on the right track as the Maranello team moves to pull out of its competitive slump.

That is the positive news from Charles Leclerc, even if his departing teammate Sebastian Vettel has been progressively struggling in the improving 2020 car.

"I think Ferrari has gone in Leclerc's direction with all these technical upgrades," former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutchland.

Indeed, especially after the last three or four grands prix, a steady trickle of upgrades has been gradually pushing the Monegasque driver up the grid.

"The most positive thing is that we have taken small steps all the time in the last three or four weekends, always in the right direction," Leclerc said.

"Wherever we had a problem we have analysed it and we seem to improve it after a race, so seeing this progress and the way we have analysed the problems is a good sign for the future," he added.

"Obviously we have to continue like this but there is still a long way to go. We hope that together with the updates we do for next year it will be enough to at least fight."

Schumacher said he is not surprised that Leclerc's performance curve has been upwards lately while the Aston Martin-bound Vettel is moving in the other direction.

"That is a completely normal process," said the German, whose brother Michael won five titles for Ferrari.

"If one driver stays and the other is going, as a team you naturally tend to respond to the wishes of the driver who will also be there in the future."

Alonso working on F1 fitness in Bahrain

Fernando Alonso says he will be working on building up his neck muscles as he tests a two-year-old Renault this week in Bahrain.

After a two-year sabbatical, the 39-year-old Spaniard is returning to Formula 1 next year to replace Daniel Ricciardo as Renault becomes Alpine.

Some people have been surprised about Alonso's commitment so far.

He has done a filming day in the 2020 car, joined the team at Imola, follows the races from a sophisticated home setup, drives in the simulator at Enstone, and even pushed to do the 'young driver' test in Abu Dhabi next month.

"I'm not crazy, I just feel involved in the project for my return," Alonso told France's L'Equipe.

His big task in Bahrain this week is building up his race fitness.

"My neck is not ready yet," he admits. "I have worked a lot in the gym but nothing replaces the car. I need kilometres. The more you drive in F1 the better you are."

When asked if he really needs a lot of preparation after two world championships and having spent most of his adult life in the paddock, Alonso answered: "If I want to win, yes."

He played down any comparison with Michael Schumacher's disappointing F1 comeback.

"Michael had great cars during his career and when he came back his car was normal, so everyone was disappointed," said Alonso.

"In my case the opposite could happen. I had inferior cars in the last five years of my career and who knows what will happen now."

More news from Formula 1:

Costa thinks Mercedes will continue to dominate
Aldo Costa says he doubts Mercedes can be beaten by any rival Formula 1 team any time soon. Read more.

Salo surprised as Raikkonen keeps racing in 2021
Mika Salo has admitted to surprise that Kimi Raikkonen will keep his longest-ever Formula 1 career alive into yet another season in 2021. Read more.

Verstappen not upset about missed F1 record
Max Verstappen is not bothered that he will never be crowned the youngest world champion in Formula 1 history. Read more.

More gravel traps will 'improve the show' - Binotto
Mattia Binotto says installing more old-school gravel traps at Formula 1 circuits will help to "improve the show". Read more.