Mar.17 (GMM) All the pre-season hype about Lewis Hamilton’s sensational move and world championship aspirations fizzled in Melbourne as the red cars finished P8 and P10. Drivers’ and constructors’ championship leaders McLaren, however, are not celebrating just yet. “We haven’t really seen what Ferrari can do yet,” team boss Andrea Stella warned. Indeed, it was […]
Category: Recent stories
Red Bull can catch McLaren in five races – Marko
Mar.17 (GMM) McLaren’s obvious early dominance in 2025 can still be overcome – within as few as five races. That’s the claim of self-confessed “optimist” Dr Helmut Marko, the powerful advisor at Red Bull. He was speaking after the chequered flag in Melbourne, where despite a close finish in tricky conditions Lando Norris became the […]
Susie Wolff as FIA president ‘impossible’ – Marko
Mar.16 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says Red Bull will be stridently opposed to the idea of Susie Wolff running for FIA president. Recent rumours have suggested that Mohammed Ben Sulayem, who instigated a short-lived investigation into conflict of interest between Susie and Toto Wolff’s current roles, may have a challenger in the FIA elections late […]
Domenicali heading to Thailand after Melbourne
Mar.16 (GMM) Stefano Domenicali, the newly-renewed CEO of Formula 1, is hopping on a plane from Melbourne to Bangkok after Sunday’s season opener. “I’m just finishing the race here in Melbourne, then I go to Thailand to see if there is a potential interest from the government to develop something there,” he told Sky Italia. […]
F1, Netflix, defend under-fire ‘Drive to Survive’
Mar.16 (GMM) Formula 1, and Netflix producers, have defended ‘Drive to Survive’ against withering attacks from the sport’s top stars Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. Verstappen has never hidden his opinion about the exaggerated, Hollywood-esque production, even refusing to take part at all in some editions. One clip from the latest season showed the quadruple […]
Marko to ‘observe’ Lawson over ‘five races’
Mar.16 (GMM) It’s only round one of 24, but George Russell thinks the 2025 season is basically done and dusted. “McLaren has such a big gap to the others that they could stop development already and focus completely on 2026,” said the Mercedes driver. Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher senses deep disappointment in the Mercedes […]
Ferrari giving Hamilton ‘time’ to speed up
Mar.15 (GMM) Charles Leclerc could “send Lewis Hamilton into retirement” this year, former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher warns. Amid all the pre-season hype of the seven time world champion’s Maranello move, 40-year-old Hamilton headed to Melbourne clearly off his teammate’s pace. He then qualified P8, one place behind Leclerc. “The Italian media will get very […]
Marko trumps ‘pessimistic Verstappens’ in Melbourne
Mar.15 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko is trying to stay upbeat about Red Bull’s situation as the 2025 season kicks off in Melbourne. Max Verstappen took issue with his mentor’s claim that a second-row qualifying performance might still be realistic at the season opener, while Max’s father has been warning that a full season of struggle […]
Bottas already in Cadillac talks in Melbourne
Mar.15 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas was spotted in conversation with a representative of Formula 1’s new team for 2026, Cadillac, in the Melbourne paddock. The Finn is not giving up on his F1 career just yet, signing up at the age of 35 to serve as Mercedes’ full-time reserve after losing his Sauber seat. He’s also […]
Red Bull keeping ‘close eye’ on McLaren wings
Mar.15 (GMM) Red Bull is keeping a “very close eye” on McLaren’s bendy wings. As the action kicked off in Melbourne, the pundits’ predictions proved true – McLaren is ahead of the field while Red Bull is struggling. Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko declared this week that it’s “insane” the FIA is only clamping […]
Alonso shuts down for Aston Martin transition year
Mar.15 (GMM) Fernando Alonso amused a throng of journalists in Melbourne by refusing to tell them what he had learned at the wheel of his Aston Martin in practice. “Nothing. But if had learned anything, I wouldn’t tell you,” he smiled. Alonso, 43, was half-joking – but he also made clear that he was also […]
Hamilton signing a mistake, say Ecclestone and Briatore
Mar.14 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore think Ferrari has made a mistake by signing Lewis Hamilton. Former Formula 1 CEO Ecclestone says the seven time world champion’s best chance of further success at the age of 40 and beyond would have been to stay in silver. “Hamilton has already been extremely successful at Mercedes […]
Alonso expects Newey ‘magic’ within ‘weeks’
Mar.14 (GMM) Adrian Newey’s “magic” could be evident at Aston Martin within mere “weeks”, according to a hopeful Fernando Alonso. Newey, 66, left Red Bull amid the team’s turmoil last year and has only just re-emerged from his ‘gardening leave’ at Aston Martin. Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko is playing down the loss. “Formula […]
Schumacher scolds Vettel for ‘white men’ remark
Mar.14 (GMM) Ralf Schumacher has chided fellow former Formula 1 driver Sebastian Vettel for his recent remarks. Vettel, who like Lewis Hamilton had a reputation for advocacy of a range of social justice issues, praised Schumacher for recently ‘coming out’ as gay. “It’s still very difficult to ‘come out’ in sports and be accepted,” the […]
Briatore admits Doohan ‘review’ looming soon
Mar.14 (GMM) Flavio Briatore is openly admitting he will soon “review” Jack Doohan’s performance. The charismatic and commercially-appealing Argentine reserve Franco Colapinto, on a $20m loan to Alpine from Williams, is in Melbourne amid swirling rumours about how many races he will have to sit out before taking over fellow rookie Doohan’s seat. “Jack didn’t […]
Red Bull relieved to be ‘not far’ behind
Mar.14 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko sounded relieved as practice action kicked off in Melbourne. While early championship favourite Lando Norris topped the times, the promise of an ultra-close battle also seems to be brewing for the 2025 season. “The results are really close,” Red Bull advisor Marko told ORF. “Thank God we are not that […]
Wolff delays Russell talks until mid-season
Mar.14 (GMM) Contract talks with George Russell are on the back burner for now, the British driver and his boss Toto Wolff admit. In Melbourne, two interesting paddock developments are brewing. First, De Telegraaf newspaper reports that McLaren CEO Zak Brown recently got in touch with Max Verstappen’s management to “explore the market”. And Mercedes’ […]
Verstappen to snub ‘nonsense’ Red Bull videos
Mar.14 (GMM) Max Verstappen is dialling back his involvement with Red Bull’s quirky social media presence. According to the Dutch publication Formule 1, manager Raymond Vermeulen has told team officials that the quadruple world champion is frustrated with the inane nature of Red Bull’s TikTok activities in particular. “Big brands like Oracle, Tag Heuer and […]
Tsunoda would have struggled with Verstappen ‘pressure’
Mar.13 (GMM) Yuki Tsunoda could struggle to remain in Formula 1 after the 2025 season. One issue is that this year is his fifth at Red Bull’s junior F1 team – and the door to Red Bull Racing has closed for now with Liam Lawson’s promotion. Team advisor Dr Helmut Marko says it was the […]
Newey hasn’t worked on 2025 Aston Martin at all – boss
Mar.13 (GMM) Adrian Newey is yet to work his fabled magic on Aston Martin’s new car for 2025. In Bahrain pre-season testing recently, the green cars appeared to lack pace – with leading team figures like Fernando Alonso already looking ahead to the all-new era from 2026. “I think we’ve taken a step forward,” said […]