Oct.7 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen is not having a good birthday weekend in Qatar. First, his teammate Nico Hulkenberg – with whom Magnussen had the infamous “suck my b*lls” falling out some years ago – revealed that he was giving the Haas driver an embarrassing birthday present. “It’s a toilet brush,” said the German. “Not sure […]
Boss Krack quiet over Lance Stroll tantrum
Oct.7 (GMM) Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack was reluctant to comment after Lance Stroll threw a tantrum at Qatar. Already in the paddock, there were rumours that his father Lawrence Stroll may be mulling over an offer to sell the team and potentially replace the struggling Stroll with Honda-linked Yuki Tsunoda. Tsunoda said when […]
Red Bull, Honda, not denying new Tsunoda rumours
Oct.6 (GMM) Amid rumours Lance Stroll may be on the way out at Aston Martin, a potential contender to replace him has already emerged. It is Yuki Tsunoda, despite the fact that he was recently named in Red Bull-owned Alpha Tauri’s next race lineup for the fourth consecutive year. Dr Helmut Marko told Sport1: “Tsunoda […]
Stroll ‘approached’ over EUR 800m F1 team buyout
Oct.6 (GMM) Wild rumours are doing the rounds in the Qatar paddock about the potential sale of the Aston Martin team. According to Sport1, Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll is said to be mulling over a giant EUR 800 million offer lodged by the Saudi Arabian state oil company Aramco – already the team’s title sponsor. […]
F1 stars break ranks to back Andretti entry
Oct.6 (GMM) Two of Formula 1’s top drivers have broken ranks to declare that they would like to see Andretti-Cadillac welcomed onto the grid. This week, the FIA gave Andretti’s bid for a place in pitlane the green light – but it now all depends on commercial negotiations with Liberty Media. The majority of the […]
Marko not surprised Perez ‘went under’ at Red Bull
Oct.6 (GMM) Sergio Perez shouldn’t be too downbeat about being easily defeated by his ultra-dominant Red Bull teammate Max Verstappen in 2023. That is the view of Dr Helmut Marko, who said great drivers like Dutchman Verstappen always secure a clear upper-hand over their teammates. “My father always said ‘You have to destroy your teammate’,” […]
Verstappen hits out at ‘stupid’ best athlete titles
Oct.6 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he would like to be excluded from “stupid” athlete of the year awards nominations. Formula 1’s dominant Dutchman won a prestigious Laureus award last year, and also the Dutch sports federation’s athlete of the year title in 2016, 2021 and 2022. But the newly-26-year-old says he doesn’t want to be […]
Lawson will be back on grid in 2025 ‘at the latest’
Oct.6 (GMM) Liam Lawson will be a full-time Formula 1 racer “by 2025 at the latest”. That is the news from Red Bull’s notorious driver program czar Dr Helmut Marko, after New Zealand rookie Lawson admitted that being left out of Alpha Tauri’s race lineup for 2024 was “disappointing”. For now, he will get at […]
Albon backs Sargeant for last seat on 2024 grid
Oct.6 (GMM) Alex Albon says he would be happy if Williams keeps struggling rookie Logan Sargeant onboard for 2024. 22-year-old American Sargeant’s seat is the final official vacancy on next year’s grid, but he has been having high-profile crashes recently. “It’s just about maybe dialling it back a little bit,” he said in Qatar, “making […]
F1 heading for ‘power struggle’ over Andretti bid
Oct.5 (GMM) Formula 1, the teams and the FIA are heading for a major dispute over the issue of green-lighting Andretti-Cadillac’s entry to the sport. The FIA has approved Andretti’s bid, but the matter is now passing into the hands of F1 owner Liberty Media for what are set to be thorny commercial negotiations. “Stefano […]
Leclerc at F1 ‘crossroads’ – Schumacher
Oct.5 (GMM) Charles Leclerc has reached a “crossroads” in his Formula 1 career. That is the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, referring to the way in which Leclerc’s teammate Carlos Sainz has emerged as the more impressive-looking Ferrari driver in 2023. For his part, Spaniard Sainz played down the perception that he and […]
Marko says no ‘rush’ for Ricciardo return
Oct.5 (GMM) A disappointed Liam Lawson will at least get one more outing at the wheel of injured Daniel Ricciardo’s Alpha Tauri. The team has now confirmed earlier reports suggesting Australian Ricciardo is not ready to return this weekend in Qatar – meaning Austin late this month is now the likely comeback date. Red Bull’s […]
Rejected bidder thinks Andretti will enter F1
Oct.4 (GMM) One well-placed insider thinks Formula 1 will add Andretti-Cadillac as the sport’s eleventh team. This week, the FIA finally announced that, out of several applications to become the eleventh and twelfth teams, only Andretti’s bid was given the green light. However, the final phase of the tender process is commercial negotiations with Liberty […]
F1 could scrap 18-inch tyres to reduce car weight
Oct.4 (GMM) Formula 1 could shrink the size of the wheels and tyres as part of an effort to get the rising height of the already-hefty cars down for 2026. With the electrical components of the new cars for 2026 set to add even more weight to the current 798kg minimum weight, the FIA recently […]
Bottas admits to stalled ‘progress’ at Alfa Romeo
Oct.4 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas admits “progress” at Alfa Romeo has been lacking for some time now. Last year, as the new ‘ground effect’ rules took effect, the Swiss-based team got an early advantage by getting closer to the minimum weight than most other outfits. “We overperformed and were much better than expected,” Finn Bottas, 34, […]
Red Bull dominance could last years – Sainz
Oct.4 (GMM) Carlos Sainz admits rival Formula 1 teams may not be able to end Red Bull’s dominance any time soon. Given how dominant Red Bull has been since the start of the new ‘ground effect’ regulations in 2022 and 2023, some are predicting the Max Verstappen could keep collecting titles at least until the […]
Horner ‘sure’ Wolff won’t suddenly quit F1
Oct.4 (GMM) Christian Horner has played down speculation his F1 nemesis Toto Wolff might quit Formula 1. Wolff, the team boss at Mercedes, sat out the recent Japanese GP – ostensibly for knee surgery – and was replaced by new deputy Jerome d’Ambrosio and communications boss Bradley Lord. At the same time, others in the […]
Williams vacancy for Lawson, not Schumacher – pundit
Oct.3 (GMM) Liam Lawson is on the way into Formula 1, whilst Mick Schumacher is on the way out. That’s the verdict of former F1 driver turned pundit Christian Danner, amid reports Haas refugee and current Mercedes reserve Schumacher looks likely to accept an offer to race in sportscars next year. “In the two years […]
Red Bull, Honda, at arm’s length until 2026
Oct.3 (GMM) Red Bull and Honda have both confirmed that their working relationship at present is quite awkward. Currently, their chassis-engine combination is utterly dominating Formula 1 – but it has a clear end-date. Red Bull is already working on its own engine in collaboration with Ford for the new rules in 2026, with Honda […]
Sainz future ‘will be decided’ over the winter
Oct.3 (GMM) Carlos Sainz says he will sit down with Ferrari executives over the winter to negotiate a potential new deal beyond 2024. The on-form Spanish driver’s famous father and namesake recently confirmed speculation that Audi, entering F1 with Sauber for 2026, may be interested in Sainz. It seems like the perfect time for the […]