May 17 (GMM) A giant rain cloud has moved above this weekend’s running of the grand prix at Imola. Multiple international journalists report that they were asked to evacuate the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari circuit on Tuesday due to the risk of the nearby Santerna river breaking its banks. “Sky (Deutschland) employees report […]
Axed Russian GP still seeking F1 fee refund
May 16 (GMM) Promoters of the axed Russian GP are still asking Formula 1 to return the race fee for 2022. The race at Sochi, and the remainder of the Russian GP contract, was terminated unilaterally by F1 at the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine. “They owe us money,” promoter Alexey Titov told the […]
F1 should allow spending outside budget cap – Alpine
May 16 (GMM) Otmar Szafnauer says Renault-owned Alpine is pushing hard to up its game in Formula 1. Recently, Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi pointed the finger directly at Szafnauer for a lacklustre start to the season for the Enstone and Viry-based team. The comments coincided with rumours that Rossi was in Miami for the most […]
Italian govt wants both Imola and Monza on F1 calendar
May 16 (GMM) Italy’s deputy prime minister says the government is determined to keep both Imola and Monza on the Formula 1 calendar. This weekend, the sport is gathering at Imola – ahead of F1’s return to the country in September for the fabled Italian GP at Monza. Imola and Monza have separate contracts to […]
Rules will not change to help Red Bull’s rivals
May 16 (GMM) Formula 1 will not “intervene” to slow Red Bull and help the dominant team’s rivals to close the performance gap. After a clean-sweep of five wins from five grands prix so far, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has played down suggestions the energy drink-owned team will also be victorious in all other […]
Barcelona knows ‘nothing’ about rival Madrid bid
May 15 (GMM) Circuit de Catalunya boss Jose Luis Santamaria says he knows “nothing” about plans to get a Formula 1 race on the streets of Madrid up and running. The current Spanish GP contract with the venue outside Barcelona runs until 2026, and plans appear to be well advanced for a potential switch to […]
No plans yet for return to F1 paddock – Vettel
May 15 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel says he isn’t sure when he will return to the Formula 1 paddock. The quadruple world champion has been completely absent since retiring as a race driver at the end of 2022. “After such a long time in racing, I have something like an everyday life for the first time,” […]
Ferrari needs a technical boss, not Vasseur
May 15 (GMM) Former Ferrari engineer Luigi Mazzola is not confident new team boss Frederic Vasseur can turn the situation around at Maranello. Having ousted Mattia Binotto at the end of last year, the fabled Italian team is struggling even more than it did in 2022 now with Frenchman Vasseur at the helm. “I’m sorry,” […]
Briatore told Alonso to join Aston Martin
May 15 (GMM) Flavio Briatore says he spotted Aston Martin’s rise to shock competitiveness in Formula 1 ahead of time. The former Renault team boss is still involved in the overall management of Fernando Alonso’s career. He told Italy’s Il Riformista newspaper that he spotted Aston Martin’s likely leap up the F1 grid this year […]
Alpha Tauri will not be sold – Marko
May 15 (GMM) Red Bull has decided against selling its second Formula 1 team Alpha Tauri, Dr Helmut Marko has revealed. The 80-year-old Austrian admits that in the period following the death last year of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz until recently, rumours of a potential shake-up at the struggling team were not wide of […]
Fallows not surprised top teams sticking with ‘concept’
May 15 (GMM) Dan Fallows says he’s not surprised that Mercedes and Ferrari are sticking with the ‘concept’ of their respective 2023 cars in order to catch Red Bull. The centrepiece of Ferrari’s upgraded car for Imola is new rear suspension, while a major upgrade for Mercedes is being played down by team boss Toto […]
De Vries shown ‘yellow card’ at Alpha Tauri – Marko
May 15 (GMM) Nyck de Vries has been shown a “yellow card” and needs to improve, but the Dutchman will not yet be ousted. That is the word from Dr Helmut Marko, the architect of Red Bull’s highly successful F1 driver program, following rumours a decision has already been taken to axe the 28-year-old rookie […]
Verstappen-Perez is like Senna-Prost – Perez’s father
May 12 (GMM) Sergio Perez’s father has likened the 2023 title fight to the infamous scrap between F1 legends Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. While some believe Max Verstappen is the obvious de-facto ‘number 1’ at Red Bull, Mexican Perez is only 14 points behind – and his father Antonio says the 33-year-old is definitely […]
Aston Martin looking ahead to 2024 car
May 12 (GMM) Aston Martin is already starting to look ahead to its 2024 car. The Silverstone based team replaced Sebastian Vettel with fellow multiple world champion Fernando Alonso this year – and the Spaniard has been on the podium behind the dominant the Red Bulls in four races out of five so far. Alonso, […]
Indycar warns F1 over trademark breaches
May 12 (GMM) The owner of the US-based Indycar series has hit out at Formula 1 for repeated alleged trademark breaches. Earlier, F1’s official Twitter account captioned a promotional video for the inaugural Las Vegas GP with the moniker: “The greatest racing spectacle on the planet”. Following that, Indycar and Indianapolis Motor Speedway owner Mark […]
Marko could oust struggling de Vries – source
May 12 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo could be on the cusp of a sensational return to the Formula 1 grid. Multiple authoritative media sources, including the major German newspaper Bild, report that Dutch rookie Nyck de Vries is already at risk of losing his new full-time seat at Alpha Tauri. Other reports suggest 28-year-old de Vries […]
Ex drivers agree Verstappen on ‘Senna level’
May 11 (GMM) Four former Formula 1 drivers agree that Max Verstappen is the strongest driver of his generation – and perhaps one of the all-time greats. “Of course he is,” Italian Emanuele Pirro, still an occasional FIA steward, told La Gazzetta dello Sport when asked if the Dutchman is on Senna, Schumacher and Hamilton’s […]
Alonso ‘tempted’ to extend Aston Martin deal
May 11 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he is “tempted” to sign a contract extension with Aston Martin. The 41-year-old Spaniard, who won two titles almost two decades ago, has been on the podium four times out of five so far in 2023 after switching from Alpine. His former girlfriend revealed recently that Alonso’s ‘multi-year’ contract […]
Ferrari’s problem is ‘inconsistency’ – Alonso
May 10 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says the biggest difference between the Ferrari he drove for and the Maranello based team of today is “inconsistency”. In that way, the Spaniard actually agrees with Ferrari’s current drivers as well as new team boss Frederic Vasseur, who said after Miami: “We were far too inconsistent from one car […]
Szafnauer responds to CEO Rossi’s ‘pressure’
May 10 (GMM) Team boss Otmar Szafnauer says he will confront Laurent Rossi about the Alpine CEO’s latest comments. On his rare visit to a grand prix in Miami, Rossi told the French broadcaster Canal Plus that the Enstone and Viry-based team’s current situation was “not acceptable”. But he then followed up with another interview […]