Mar.19 (GMM) Heads could roll at Mercedes after team boss Toto Wolff admitted his designers had fudged the basic ‘concept’ of its Formula 1 car for the second season in a row. Former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan last week slammed Wolff for seeming to pin the blame for Mercedes’ ongoing situation on the team’s […]
Category: Recent stories
Verstappen can win ‘six titles in a row’ – Massa
Mar.19 (GMM) A new era of Schumacher or Hamilton-style dominance is now well underway in Formula 1, according to Michael Schumacher’s former teammate Felipe Massa. “I think that’s happening now,” the Brazilian told Germany’s Bild newspaper after qualifying in Saudi Arabia. However, despite Max Verstappen’s utter dominance of the Jeddah weekend so far, the back-to-back […]
No regrets amid McLaren ‘crisis’ – Piastri
Mar.18 (GMM) Oscar Piastri insists he does not regret signing for McLaren. The 21-year-old arrived on the Formula 1 grid this year as one of the most highly rated rookies in recent memory. In fact, last season, his 2023 debut was the subject of a legal scuffle for his services between Alpine, where he was […]
Hulkenberg to spend time at Maranello in 2023
Mar.18 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg has vowed to spend much more time at Maranello this year. Some years ago, amid Fernando Alonso’s difficult relationship with Ferrari, Hulkenberg almost signed on the dotted line of a plum Ferrari deal. “I don’t know,” the 35-year-old German now says when asked what went wrong. “It just didn’t happen.” But […]
Alonso to make Aston ‘number 2 in F1’ – Marko
Mar.18 (GMM) Fernando Alonso “is in his third spring” as a Formula 1 driver, according to top Red Bull official Fernando Alonso. Indeed, as both Mercedes and Ferrari falter at the start of 2023 with their respective new cars, it is 41-year-old Alonso and the suddenly-competitive Aston Martin that appears to be challenging the hardest […]
Jeddah not yet confirmed as 2024 season opener
Mar.18 (GMM) Saudi Arabia is yet to be assigned the top spot on next year’s Formula 1 calendar. That is despite the fact that, late last year, organisers of the Australian GP admitted in a statement that Jeddah will “host the first race of the 2024 season out of respect for Ramadan”. Indeed, the Muslim […]
Hamilton may look at other F1 teams – Wolff
Mar.18 (GMM) As Lewis Hamilton’s split with his long-time companion and assistant Angela Cullen became clear, Toto Wolff admitted for the first time that the seven time world champion could also leave Mercedes. That is despite the fact that, when pressed on the status of contract negotiations with the 38-year-old Briton, he said he is […]
Relationship with new F1 boss ‘on right track’ – Marko
Mar.18 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko insists his relationship with new Red Bull CEO Oliver Mintzlaff is “on the right track”. However, the 79-year-old Austrian warned recently that could quit his top position in Red Bull’s Formula 1 program at any time in the wake of his friend Dietrich Mateschitz’s death. Red Bull founder Mateschitz died […]
Alpha Tauri call-up unlikely for Ricciardo
Mar.17 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo is unlikely to be called up to race for Red Bull’s second team Alpha Tauri in 2023. Although the Australian is nominally an official reserve for both Red Bull Racing and its sister Faenza based team, Franz Tost played down the likelihood that he would turn to the axed McLaren driver […]
Alonso hits back at Red Bull ‘copy’ theories
Mar.17 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has lashed back at suggestions Aston Martin is racing a ‘copy’ of Red Bull’s title-winning Formula 1 car. The engine, transmission and rear suspension of this year’s surprisingly-competitive Aston Martin is supplied by Mercedes. But Red Bull team figures have alleged that Aston Martin’s big aerodynamic step for 2023 is because […]
Haas not worried about Ferrari reliability
Mar.17 (GMM) One of Ferrari’s customer teams is not worried about a major reliability problem that has marred works driver Charles Leclerc’s start to the 2023 season. On Thursday in Jeddah, although Leclerc says the Maranello team is getting to the bottom of the issue, his teammate Carlos Sainz said Ferrari is heading into round […]
Petrov would refuse to sign anti-Russia document
Mar.17 (GMM) If Vitaly Petrov was still an active Formula 1 driver, he says he would currently be sitting out the world championship. Now 38, Petrov became Russia’s first ever F1 driver over a decade ago, racing for Renault and Caterham. But with F1’s governing FIA now forcing Russian athletes to sign a special document […]
Top F1 stars play down team switch rumours
Mar.17 (GMM) Three Formula 1 drivers have played down claims they may be shaping up to leave their current teams. Lando Norris signed a long McLaren contract extension last year, but that was actually prior to the team’s disappointing 2022 campaign – and an even worse start to this season. Some are talking about a […]
F1 drivers not thrilled to be in Jeddah
Mar.17 (GMM) As Max Verstappen sat out Thursday’s proceedings with a “stomach bug”, other Formula 1 drivers hinted that are not overly thrilled to be back in Saudi Arabia. Last year, the drivers’ union GPDA threatened to boycott the Jeddah street race after nearby missile strikes. When asked how he feels to be back in […]
Haas denies helping Russia to make weapons
Mar.16 (GMM) Gene Haas, owner of the American Formula 1 team that bears his name, has found himself at the centre of a controversy relating to the Russia-Ukraine crisis. That is despite the fact that team boss Gunther Steiner ousted both Nikita Mazepin and his Putin-linked father Dmitry from the F1 team at the outbreak […]
Michael may have kept Mick on F1 grid – brother
Mar.16 (GMM) The involvement of Mick Schumacher’s famous father may have kept the ousted young German on the Formula 1 grid. That is the view of Ralf Schumacher – Mick’s uncle and a former F1 driver. Recently, former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone said he thought new Mercedes reserve Schumacher, 23, may not have lost his […]
Mercedes-Aston Martin F1 rumours ‘nonsense’
Mar.16 (GMM) Three prominent Formula 1 personalities have rubbished a wild rumour about Mercedes. One publication this week attracted attention by reporting that Mercedes’ Toto Wolff-led works team risks losing the full backing of Brixworth-based Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. According to the story, Brixworth could shift its ‘works’ focus from Brackley-based Mercedes to the […]
Vasseur ‘can’t complain’ about Ferrari strife
Mar.16 (GMM) Frederic Vasseur is continuing to put a brave face on an apparently alarming situation at Ferrari. That is despite the fact that Charles Leclerc’s bad mood is going from bad to worse with news that he burned through his full allocation for the entire season of ECUs in Bahrain. It means he will […]
Alpine ‘will suffer’ Alonso loss – Villeneuve
Mar.15 (GMM) 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve thinks Alpine “will suffer” as a result of losing Fernando Alonso. Canadian Villeneuve says he will be at fewer grands prix as a television pundit this year as he concentrates on his full-time return to racing – with Vanwall in the world endurance championship and Le Mans. “I’m […]
No Russian talks with FIA taking place – Sirotkin
Mar.15 (GMM) The FIA appears unlikely to drop its special conditions for Russian racing drivers any time soon. Ever since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict early last year, resulting in Nikita Mazepin and his Russian sponsor Uralkali’s expulsion from Haas, F1’s governing body has placed certain conditions on Russian athletes. Early this month, Mazepin […]