Nov.28 (GMM) Red Bull broke the all-time record for the most dominant winning percentage in a full season of Formula 1 in 2023 – an astonishing 95.5 percent. It’s an ominous statistic for rival teams facing what Mercedes boss Toto Wolff admits is the “Mt Everest” of chasing down triple consecutive world champion Max Verstappen. […]
Verstappen wants to be ‘left alone’ for winter – father
Nov.28 (GMM) After the chequered flag on Sunday, Fernando Alonso asked Max Verstappen what he will be doing over the next few weeks now that the long 2023 season is over. “Hopefully not too much,” the triple world champion replied on Viaplay. Indeed, the ultra-dominant Dutch driver’s patience with F1’s long and arduous season appeared […]
Alonso slams F1’s current qualifying format
Nov.27 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has issued a scathing assessment about Formula 1’s three-part current qualifying format. When the Aston Martin driver won his titles for Renault almost two decades ago, the sport had moved from a traditional 60-minute, 12-lap format to one-by-one single-lap qualifying. Both were formats that Alonso, now 42, enjoyed, but he now […]
Marko retains Franz Tost as Red Bull consultant
Nov.27 (GMM) Franz Tost will in fact remain connected to Formula 1 next year as a team consultant. Having led Red Bull’s second outfit since the beginning, the 67-year-old Austrian is now stepping down as team boss to be replaced by new CEO and new principal Laurent Mekies as part of a wider rebranding and […]
Prost enjoyed Verstappen dominance in 2023
Nov.27 (GMM) F1 legend Alain Prost admits he has enjoyed watching Max Verstappen utterly dominate the 2023 season. Until now, the most dominant performance in Formula 1 history was when Prost and Ayrton Senna famously won all but one of the races in 1988 for McLaren – representing a 94 percent winning hit-rate. But Red […]
Alpha Tauri surge getting rival teams ‘excited’
Nov.27 (GMM) Alpha Tauri’s rapid late-season performance surge is catching the eye of rival Formula 1 teams. Ahead of a full team rebranding for 2024, including new bosses Peter Bayer and Laurent Mekies, Red Bull’s second F1 team suddenly began to speed up some races ago. At his final race as long-time team boss, Franz […]
‘Goal’ is F1 race seat – Vesti
Nov.27 (GMM) With new Formula 2 champion Theo Pourchaire openly eyeing Japan’s Super Formula for 2024, F2 runner-up Frederik Vesti admits the door to F1 may be closed to him as well. Like Alfa Romeo reserve Pourchaire, 21-year-old Vesti got a turn at the wheel of a Formula 1 car in Friday practice in Abu […]
Arduous F1 schedule takes toll on driver health
Nov.27 (GMM) Formula 1’s travelling schedule has become so arduous that an epidemic of illness marred the end of the long 2023 season. “I sincerely hope that subscriptions to Lemsip are not within the budget cap,” Red Bull team boss Christian Horner joked at the Abu Dhabi finale. “It’s been a pretty brutal regime.” That […]
Switching to Red Bull has ‘zero appeal’ – Hamilton
Nov.26 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he isn’t sure if he still needs to retire as world champion. The seven time world champion found himself embroiled in wild rumours at the 2023 season finale in Abu Dhabi linking him with a sensational move to Red Bull. He has now sat down with the major German newspaper […]
Verstappen won’t let Marko be pushed out of F1
Nov.26 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he will always act with “loyalty” towards his Formula 1 mentor, Dr Helmut Marko. Recently, there have been rumours of a power struggle between Red Bull’s top chiefs, Red Bull team consultant Marko and team boss Christian Horner. There were suggestions 80-year-old Marko may be pushed out of the team’s […]
F1 reserve role not enough for Pourchaire
Nov.26 (GMM) He may be at the top of the table in his third season of Formula 2, but Theo Pourchaire admits he still has no racing project lined up for 2024. The 20-year-old Frenchman has been Sauber’s reserve driver for some time, but his F2 adventure is definitely now ending – and he’s been […]
Vettel still not ruling out racing return
Nov.26 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel is still not ruling out a potential return to top motorsport. The 36-year-old quadruple world champion retired from Formula 1 at the end of last year, but he has consistently hinted that his career may not in fact be over. “It could be that I’ll get back into it,” the German […]
Female driver not good enough for F1 – Schumacher
Nov.26 (GMM) Nobody will be in the wheel-tracks of the final two rising talents in German motorsport, Ralf Schumacher has lamented. The country has lost both of its grands prix and Nico Hulkenberg, 36, is now the last active German driver on the Formula 1 grid. Red Bull has signed two young German Formula 3 […]
Tost says F1 team consultant role now unlikely
Nov.26 (GMM) Franz Tost has played down the likelihood that he will remain connected to Formula 1 as a team consultant to Alpha Tauri. Coinciding with a full team rebranding for 2024, the junior Red Bull team’s long-time boss Tost, 67, is stepping down after this weekend’s Abu Dhabi finale. “Two years ago I told […]
New Alonso contract not agreed yet – Krack
Nov.26 (GMM) Mike Krack took a small step back after declaring earlier in Abu Dhabi that he wants to extend Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin contract beyond 2024. Some thought the team boss’s words were a sign that a new deal for the 42-year-old Spaniard was already in the making. “Obviously it’s not a decision I […]
Haas must make structural changes over winter – Hulkenberg
Nov.26 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg is ending the first season since his Formula 1 comeback with a stark warning to his boss – things need to change at Haas. The German has been the small American team’s fastest driver in 2023, and he even made Q3 at the season finale in Abu Dhabi. But he’s not […]
Gambling loss to be spent on team party – Marko
Nov.26 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says he is “happy” to have lost a 500 euro bet to fellow Red Bull boss Christian Horner at the 2023 season finale in Abu Dhabi. “Christian said Max would qualify on the front row; I predicted the second row,” he smiled after qualifying, explaining that Verstappen had struggled through […]
Alonso better than Hamilton, Verstappen – Kubica
Nov.25 (GMM) Aston Martin wants to sign a new contract with Fernando Alonso. On Thursday in Abu Dhabi, the Spaniard said his first year with the Silverstone based team was one of his best-ever performances in a long and successful Formula 1 career. His friend and former rival Robert Kubica agrees. “Alonso,” said the Pole […]
Toyota-McLaren rumours hit dead-end in Abu Dhabi
Nov.25 (GMM) Rumours Toyota could return to Formula 1 with McLaren were wide of the mark. Recently, the Zak Brown-led team signed up a new development driver – Japanese Toyota sports car driver Ryo Hirakawa, who was flanked by Toyota racing officials for the announcement. Hirakawa is trackside in Abu Dhabi this weekend. “I want […]
Hamilton ’emotionally drained’ at end of 2023
Nov.25 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton admits he is finding it “difficult” to cope with the latest developments in global instability. Whilst often outspoken on other political issues, Formula 1 figures have been notably quiet about the Israel-Gaza war – despite huge western protests and outcry. When asked by Arab News in Abu Dhabi if he thinks […]