Aug.23 (GMM) Fernando Alonso thinks Aston Martin should tweak its goals for the remaining ten races of the 2024 season. This year, after a highly promising 2023, the Silverstone based team – and its 43-year-old top Spanish driver – has taken a major step backwards. “It’s been up and down,” Alonso said at Zandvoort, also […]
Category: Recent stories
Lawson will ‘definitely’ race in F1 in 2025 – Marko
Aug.23 (GMM) Liam Lawson can breathe a little easier, because Red Bull’s driver-focused F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko has very good news for the New Zealander rookie. “He will definitely be in one of our cars next year ,” the 81-year-old declared ahead of the Dutch GP to Kleine Zeitung newspaper. And what is good […]
2025 driver market still shaping up at Dutch GP
Aug.23 (GMM) A big group of drivers are still clamouring for the last remaining seats on the 2025 Formula 1 grid. Carlos Sainz finally pulled himself off the market just before the August break by signing with Williams – a disappointing shock for many of his fans. “I understand that perfectly,” the departing Ferrari driver […]
Red Bull seeking ‘downdates’ not updates – Marko
Aug.23 (GMM) Max Verstappen has denied Red Bull had to remove a now-illegal technical innovation from its 2024 car. It’s been a rocky period for the recently-dominant Formula 1 team, amid declining performance, internal conflict, and the loss not only of Adrian Newey but also sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. Because of the budget cap, consultant […]
Liberty to sell F1 shares to fund MotoGP deal
Aug.22 (GMM) Liberty Media will partly fund its acquisition of MotoGP by selling more than 10 million shares in Formula 1. “Liberty Media intends to exercise its option to deliver additional cash in lieu of shares of (Formula 1) as part of its previously disclosed proposed acquisition of Dorna Sports,” part of an official media […]
Sauber told to change F1 team name for Dutch GP
Aug.22 (GMM) Sauber has been told to drop its official team name and related branding at this weekend’s Dutch GP. For 2024, with the Alfa Romeo naming deal now lapsed, the Swiss outfit decided to adopt a blatant sponsorship approach to its new title – with the online casino Stake taking centre stage. But the […]
Thailand’s F1 hopes hit by political turmoil
Aug.22 (GMM) Hopes that Thailand could be Formula 1’s next exotic new grand prix destination appear to have taken a hit. In April, amid rumours of a potential street race in Bangkok, F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali travelled to the Southeast Asian country to meet with prime minister Srettha Thavisin. Thavisin was then at Imola for […]
Antonelli set for Friday debut, 2025 Mercedes deal
Aug.22 (GMM) According to reports in the Dutch and Italian specialist media, Kimi Antonelli really is set to make his Formula 1 race debut in 2025. De Telegraaf newspaper says Toto Wolff has finally given up on the possibility of trying to lure Max Verstappen from Red Bull to Mercedes to replace the Ferrari-bound Lewis […]
Losing race engineer a 2025 hazard for Hamilton – Villeneuve
Aug.22 (GMM) Mercedes may be losing Lewis Hamilton, but his race engineer Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington will not be following the seven time world champion to Ferrari. A Mercedes spokesman confirmed reports that Bonnington, who was Hamilton’s race engineer throughout almost his entire decade-long career at the team, is staying put. 49-year-old Bonnington will remain a […]
Red Bull to ‘fight’ further F1 staff losses – Marko
Aug.22 (GMM) Red Bull will “fight” against any further efforts from Formula 1 rivals to poach staff. Since Max Verstappen began to dominate, the energy drink company’s top F1 team has been leaking top employees – including Dan Fallows, Rob Marshall, Lee Stevenson, Adrian Newey, and Audi’s future new team boss, Jonathan Wheatley. Red Bull […]
‘Ageing’ Bottas told to vacate F1 seat permanently
Aug.21 (GMM) A well-known motor racing personality has issued a scathing assessment of Valtteri Bottas’ ongoing suitability for a Formula 1 race seat. With rumours about the Finn’s future swirling, Bottas headed into the August summer break admitting that the situation inside at Sauber at present is not “stable”. “There’s been lots of people leaving, […]
Marko plays down Red Bull performance crisis
Aug.21 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has played down escalating alarm about Red Bull’s fading car performance in 2024. Recent rumours suggest that, amid improved fortunes for rival teams McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari, Red Bull may have been quietly told by the FIA some weeks ago to discontinue a technical solution in the ‘grey area’. And […]
‘Rotation system’ could be Dutch GP saviour – boss
Aug.21 (GMM) Dutch GP boss Robert van Overdijk admits that a new rotation scheme for certain grands prix in Europe could apply to the popular race at Zandvoort. Just prior to Formula 1’s summer break, the circuit boss denied reports suggesting a deal to annually alternate the races at Zandvoort and Spa-Francorchamps from 2026 onwards […]
Hockenheim ‘thinking about’ reviving German GP
Aug.20 (GMM) The new 75 percent owners of the Hockenheim circuit say they are proceeding with “great caution” in trying to revive the German GP. In April, investment group Emodrom revealed that “five medium-sized companies” had purchased most of the historic Formula 1 circuit for EUR 5.5 million – also making them responsible for about […]
Ferrari chairman insists age is not slowing Hamilton
Aug.20 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton could be the key to a successful world championship campaign in his very first season at Ferrari in 2025. That is the confident prediction of Ferrari chairman John Elkann, who during a recent visit to the Olympic Games in Paris was asked whether it was difficult to convince the seven-time world […]
Haas’ F1 rivals ‘messed up’ in 2024 – boss Komatsu
Aug.20 (GMM) Underperforming rival teams have made Haas’ 2024 car look better than it really is, new team boss Ayao Komatsu admits. The team’s 2023 season was so poor that it cost long-time team principal Gunther Steiner his job – with Japanese engineer Komatsu promoted into the top job. One of Komatsu’s first tasks was […]
F1 pundits say Zhou doesn’t deserve race seat
Aug.20 (GMM) Two outspoken motor racing pundits are unanimous – Guanyu Zhou does not belong on the Formula 1 grid. Technically, the Chinese driver is still in the running to stay at Audi-owned Sauber next year, and he has also been linked with the 2025 Alpine seat. “Nothing’s been decided,” Zhou said just before the […]
Alpine enters frame to secure Newey’s signature
Aug.20 (GMM) Troubled Formula 1 team Alpine has emerged as a late contender to land Adrian Newey’s signature. As the sport headed into its August break, Italy’s Autosprint magazine claimed a September announcement was now looming – with Aston Martin apparently beating Ferrari to the deal with the departing Red Bull guru. Lawrence Stroll is […]
No ‘big solution’ to Red Bull car problems yet – Marko
Aug.20 (GMM) There is no “big solution” yet to Red Bull’s fall from Formula 1 dominance in 2024, team F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko admits. As the sport emerges from its August break and factory shutdowns, Marko said no development work could be done on the car. But he insists: “We have to solve our […]
Haas boss insists Bearman cannot be compared to Mazepin
Aug.19 (GMM) The boss of F1’s smallest team has rubbished comparisons between 2025 rookie Oliver Bearman and former Haas driver Nikita Mazepin. Since Haas unsuccessfully paired Russian driver Mazepin with another rookie Mick Schumacher back in 2021, the team has only run highly experienced drivers. That is changing for 2025, with 19-year-old Ferrari junior Bearman […]