Jul.29 (GMM) McLaren CEO Zak Brown admits the team may need to re-think its strict policy of total driver equality over the looming August break. Over the past several races, as the earlier-dominant Red Bull’s dominance faded, McLaren and Lando Norris emerged as Max Verstappen’s biggest threat for world championship spoils in 2024. Spa-Francorchamps, however, […]
Category: Recent stories
Ricciardo to ‘leave phone on’ over summer break
Jul.29 (GMM) A much-needed summer break may now be looming for Formula 1, but Daniel Ricciardo says he will be leaving his “phone on”. Red Bull’s patience with the struggling Sergio Perez now seems to be running out, with the Mexican sliding from P2 on the grid at Spa to P8 when he saw the […]
Sainz finally makes F1 team decision for 2025 – reports
Jul.28 (GMM) Carlos Sainz has finally made his decision about where to race in 2025 – Williams. That’s the claim of two authoritative Formula 1 media sources, after the departing Ferrari driver’s father and co-manager Carlos Sainz senior was seen leaving Williams’ motorhome at Spa-Francorchamps. Sainz jr, 29, has been a ‘cork in the bottle’ […]
Wolff hints Antonelli ‘arriving’ in F1 in 2025
Jul.28 (GMM) With Carlos Sainz now expected to sign for Williams, the path is clear at Mercedes for 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli to make his Formula 1 debut in 2025. Team boss Toto Wolff was holding the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton’s cockpit open for Max Verstappen, but the triple world champion now appears contractually locked in at […]
Pole not a needed ‘motivation boost’ for Leclerc – boss
Jul.28 (GMM) As the McLarens struggled on the wet track and Saturday’s fastest man Max Verstappen moves back ten places on the grid, Charles Leclerc emerged with the inherited pole position at Spa. The time gap between Verstappen and Ferrari’s Leclerc in second place, however, was a whopping six tenths, with Dr Helmut Marko remarking: […]
Red Bull still pondering improved Perez’s future
Jul.28 (GMM) Sergio Perez put his quest to rescue his endangered race seat at Red Bull back on track with a solid qualifying effort at Spa-Francorchamps. “What was really nice is that Checo really improved himself,” said team consultant Dr Helmut Marko on Saturday, as critical meetings about potential driver shuffles at Red Bull’s two […]
Race boss admits 2025 could be final Dutch GP
Jul.27 (GMM) The boss of the Formula 1 venue at Zandvoort has some worrying news for fans of the popular Dutch GP. Robert van Overdijk is warning that, as of right now, the future of the race is in serious doubt beyond the end of its 2025 contract. “At the moment,” he admitted in an […]
Vasseur still defending struggling Leclerc
Jul.27 (GMM) Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has continued to defend Charles Leclerc. It is Carlos Sainz, rather than Leclerc, who is being ousted at the end of the year to make room for Lewis Hamilton. So will the arrival of a seven time world champion be good news or bad news for Leclerc, who is […]
Marko doubts Verstappen will win Belgian GP
Jul.27 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko is not sounding confident about a Max Verstappen victory this Sunday at Spa-Francorchamps. The triple world champion bounced back from Hungary with strong pace in opening practice at his favourite track on Friday, but was then outpaced by both McLarens in FP2. “We’re in the running,” team boss Christian Horner […]
Red Bull drivers facing nervous F1 summer break
Jul.27 (GMM) Red Bull is shaping up to emerge from the forthcoming August break with different driver lineups at both of the brand’s Formula 1 teams. Daniel Ricciardo faces the prospect of either being dropped by the junior squad RB altogether, or promoted at least for the second part of 2024 to Red Bull Racing. […]
Krack plays down swirling Audi rumours
Jul.27 (GMM) Mike Krack has denied raging speculation that he could be the next big F1 appointment made by Audi. Sauber’s new 100 percent team owner announced this week that it has acquired former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto – who will be both chief operating officer and chief technical officer. Andreas Seidl and Oliver Hoffmann […]
Alpine chaos not prelude to F1 team sale – boss
Jul.27 (GMM) Alpine’s outgoing team boss insists the crisis-struck Formula 1 team is not being prepared for sale. Although one of the goals of the all-new, heavily-electrified 2026 regulations was to attract new carmakers like Audi, Renault owner Alpine has actually all but decided to scrap its works engine program. The marque can’t make the […]
Endangered Logan Sargeant slams former F1 driver
Jul.26 (GMM) Logan Sargeant has slammed a former Formula 1 driver for gossiping about his situation. It is almost certain that Sargeant, 23, will be ousted by Williams at the end of the year – amid rumours boss James Vowles actually tried and failed to replace him immediately with Esteban Ocon. “A couple of my […]
McLaren may ‘reconsider’ team orders approach in future
Jul.26 (GMM) Andrea Stella admits McLaren may need to “reconsider” the way it handles team orders as the season progresses. In Hungary, despite an easy 1-2 for the resurgent team, most of the post-race chatter was about Lando Norris’ near-refusal to hand back the win to his teammate Oscar Piastri. In the week since, Norris […]
Marko admits Verstappen, Red Bull, ‘tense’ at Spa
Jul.26 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has revealed a “tense” mood inside the Red Bull garage ahead of the Belgian GP. Both Max Verstappen and his long-time race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase were chided by the team’s famous F1 advisor after Hungary for their radio behaviour. “The two of them sat down together and discussed it,” Marko […]
Disillusioned Ocon began Haas talks in 2023
Jul.26 (GMM) Esteban Ocon has confirmed that he decided to leave Alpine “a long time ago”. On Thursday at Spa, after a long period of rumours linking the departing Alpine driver with Haas, the new multi-year contract for the Frenchman was finally revealed. “The decision was made for me a long time ago,” the 27-year-old […]
Hulkenberg admits friend Seidl’s exit a ‘shock’
Jul.26 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg admits it was a “shock” to learn that Andreas Seidl has been sacked by Audi. Back in May, the on-form German admitted the “driving factor” in deciding to leave Haas was because his old Porsche sports car chief Seidl was in charge of the new Sauber-Audi project. “Those two were the […]
Sainz admits Mercedes seat chances now ‘small’
Jul.26 (GMM) Carlos Sainz admits the likelihood of securing a championship-winning race seat for 2025 is “small”. The Spaniard is the ongoing cork in the bottle of the Formula 1 driver market at the moment, given that he is weighing up offers from Audi, Alpine and Williams – whilst holding out hope of a Mercedes […]
Sainz admits ‘problem’ with even heavier 2025 cars
Jul.26 (GMM) Carlos Sainz says it’s a “problem” for Formula 1 that the cars keep getting incrementally heavier. Today’s hybrid-powered single seaters are literally hundreds of kilograms heavier than in the past – and now an extra 2kg has been added to the weight of the seat-plus driver for 2025. The FIA explained that the […]
Leclerc expects Ferrari ‘bouncing’ to return at Spa
Jul.25 (GMM) Charles Leclerc is not feeling confident ahead of this weekend’s Belgian GP. The Ferrari driver actually won at Spa-Francorchamps in 2019, and he also saw the chequered flag first earlier this year in Monaco. But since then, and especially since a new floor was introduced in Barcelona, the Maranello based team has been […]