Jun.25 (GMM) Even in the few days between Barcelona and Austria, and in the midst of an intense F1 triple-header, the 2005 driver ‘silly season’ continues to rumble. The big news is that two main contenders to replace Esteban Ocon at Alpine next year, Mick Schumacher and Jack Doohan, will test a 2022 car at […]
Alpine emerges as new F1 option for Carlos Sainz
Jun.24 (GMM) Alpine has suddenly emerged as Carlos Sainz’s potential new F1 team for 2025 and beyond. In Barcelona at the weekend, paddock insiders suggested the departing Ferrari driver is basically now ready to decide between Williams and Audi-Sauber – with an announcement due imminently. Charles Leclerc, upset about making contact with his Ferrari teammate […]
Haas insists it did not lose battle with Russian sponsor
Jun.24 (GMM) Haas has hit back at claims the small American F1 team lost a key legal battle against an embittered former sponsor. Last Friday, the axed-in-2022 Nikita Mazepin’s similarly ousted backer Uralkali, a Russian fertiliser giant with links to Vladimir Putin, declared that it won a Swiss arbitration case against the terminated title sponsorship […]
Verstappen would look good in silver – Mercedes CEO
Jun.24 (GMM) Mercedes CEO and chairman Ola Kallenius has stepped into the 2025 Formula 1 ‘silly season’ by making a direct pitch to triple world champion Max Verstappen. Although 17-year-old Kimi Antonelli’s path to the Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton’s current race seat now appears clear, team boss Toto Wolff is still not ready to make any […]
Logan Sargeant linked with Indycar move for 2025
Jun.24 (GMM) Logan Sargeant looks set to be the next Formula 1 driver to make the shift to America’s top open wheeler series, Indycar. The entire F1 paddock is now basically unanimous that the struggling 23-year-old Floridian will almost certainly be replaced by someone like Carlos Sainz, Valtteri Bottas or even rookie Kimi Antonelli for […]
Red Bull’s Barcelona upgrade ‘didn’t work’ – Marko
Jun.24 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko admits yet another of Red Bull’s new update packages did not work properly last weekend in Barcelona. McLaren’s Lando Norris, just a couple of seconds behind winner Max Verstappen on Sunday, was annoyed that only a poor race start cost him Spanish GP victory. It’s clear that Red Bull’s dominance […]
Sainz to choose between Williams and Audi next week
Jun.23 (GMM) Carlos Sainz is now mere days away from announcing the identity of his new Formula 1 team for 2025 and beyond. According to a source in the Spanish media, the departing Ferrari driver will not make his decision between Williams and Audi-Sauber on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday – but he will make it […]
Alonso expects ‘painful’ F1 triple-header
Jun.23 (GMM) Fernando Alonso expects the entire triple-header F1 weekend to be “painful”. After a promising and podium-filled 2023, the rapidly developing Aston Martin team is now struggling merely to get into Q3 and score meagre points. Alonso, for instance, qualified P11 at home in Barcelona. “This team has been in the building phase for […]
‘No decision’ about scrapping engine program – Briatore
Jun.23 (GMM) Alpine’s new F1 advisor Flavio Briatore is not denying that the team’s manufacturer parent Renault could totally scrap its 2026 engine project. “I don’t comment on these kinds of rumours,” team boss Bruno Famin told Canal Plus in Barcelona. Briatore, the struggling Enstone based team’s former ultra-successful boss, has been appointed by Renault […]
FIA gives thumbs up to flexing front wings in Spain
Jun.23 (GMM) FIA scrutineers have once again approved McLaren and Mercedes’ controversial front wings, after it emerged in Canada two weeks ago that Red Bull has concerns about excessive flexing. In Barcelona, McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified on pole ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, with the ever-improving Mercedes cars next fastest. “Mercedes have certainly made […]
McLaren’s car now ‘better’ than Red Bull’s – Verstappen
Jun.23 (GMM) McLaren is already “better” than Red Bull, triple world champion and 2024 championship leader Max Verstappen admitted in Barcelona. He was speaking after qualifying, where Lando Norris just managed to squeak ahead of Verstappen’s previously-dominant Red Bull to secure pole position. Heading into the weekend, Red Bull’s F1 advisor Dr Helmut Marko said […]
Briatore can turn Alpine around in ‘two years’
Jun.22 (GMM) Flavio Briatore says he can get the beleaguered Alpine team back in Formula 1’s “top four” within “two years”. The big news as the sport got into action in Barcelona is that the factory team’s successful and controversial former boss has been signed by Renault CEO Luca de Meo as ‘executive advisor’. “Luca […]
Aston Martin owner’s son says ‘everyone’ wants Newey
Jun.22 (GMM) Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll’s son admits that “everyone” in his father’s position wants to sign a contract with the great Adrian Newey. As Formula 1 headed to Barcelona for the Spanish GP, rumours emerged that Red Bull refugee Newey, arguably the most respected designer in F1 history, had been given a […]
Imola test was to give Verstappen ‘reference’ – Red Bull
Jun.22 (GMM) Red Bull admits Max Verstappen was given a private run in the team’s title-winning 2022 car earlier this week to serve as a “reference” for some of the problems with this year’s single seater. Fresh from his Imola test, the Dutch driver was just P5 in Friday practice in Barcelona, but Red Bull […]
Ocon wants F1 future secured before August
Jun.22 (GMM) Esteban Ocon is hoping his next move in Formula 1 can be announced before the end of next month. The Frenchman’s reputation has taken a major hit in 2024, as the struggling Alpine team has already announced that he will not be offered a new contract. Ocon, 27, defended his talent. “In all […]
Wolff calls police amid Hamilton sabotage claims
Jun.22 (GMM) Toto Wolff has called in the police to get to the bottom of wild claims that Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton is being sabotaged by Mercedes’ F1 team. The anonymous email, purported to have been sent by a disgruntled Mercedes staffer, was sent to all major Formula 1 stakeholders and journalists. “It’s not from a […]
Ocon to race Gasly’s lighter Alpine in Barcelona
Jun.21 (GMM) Alpine has agreed to put Esteban Ocon at the wheel of Pierre Gasly’s lighter chassis this weekend in Barcelona. With Ocon and the crisis-struck Renault factory team splitting at the end of the year, all semblance of harmony evaporated at the most recent races in Monaco and Canada. In Montreal, Ocon even revealed […]
Gasly admits Renault could scrap 2026 engine project
Jun.21 (GMM) Pierre Gasly has hinted that Alpine really is contemplating buying a customer engine from a rival Formula 1 manufacturer. Renault’s factory F1 outfit remains in deep performance and personnel crisis in 2024, and the situation is not likely to change this weekend in Barcelona. “We won’t have any upgrades in the near future,” […]
Verstappen hits back at British GP boss
Jun.21 (GMM) Max Verstappen has lashed back at claims that he is responsible for poor ticket sales for the forthcoming 2024 British GP. When explaining why the July event has not sold out, Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle alleged that Red Bull and Max Verstappen had made the results “very repetitive”. “I don’t think I can […]
Axed Russian sponsor wins legal battle with Haas F1
Jun.21 (GMM) Haas’ axed former title sponsor has won a legal battle against the Formula 1 team in a Swiss arbitration court. Uralkali, a Russian fertiliser giant, heavily backed the similarly-ousted driver Nikita Mazepin until the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022. The company sought compensation for the terminated sponsorship deal through the […]