Jul.2 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he wants to keep racing in Formula 1 “for at least two more years”. In recent days, it has appeared more and more likely that Renault-owned Alpine will ink a new deal with the two-time champion and send reserve driver Oscar Piastri over to Williams. “I think we’ll talk about […]
Marko called Max’s father after team criticism
Jul.2 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko said he had to call world champion Max Verstappen’s father to discuss a recent round of criticism aimed at Red Bull bosses. After Monaco, where 24-year-old championship leader Max’s teammate Sergio Perez won, Jos Verstappen wrote in a column on his son’s official website that Red Bull “threw away” points. […]
Albon admits Red Bull-like Williams upgrade
Jul.2 (GMM) Alex Albon does not deny that Williams’ aerodynamic upgrades for its 2022 car revealed at Silverstone make it resemble a championship-leading Red Bull. Earlier, critics said Aston Martin’s recently-launched B-spec car made it look like a ‘green Red Bull’, although the energy drink owned team ultimately decided against a protest. Now, Alex Albon […]
Inflation won’t stop 2022 F1 season – Brown
Jul.1 (GMM) Zak Brown has slammed warnings that top Formula 1 teams may not be able to complete the 2022 world championship as “empty threats”. The alarm had been sounded most loudly by Red Bull’s Christian Horner, who said last week that up to half of the teams on the grid may be missing by […]
Schumacher admits 2023 contract talks on now
Jul.1 (GMM) “Talks” about the future with Haas are now well underway, Mick Schumacher has admitted. After a tumultuous period in the relationship between the struggling young German and his Haas boss Gunther Steiner, both sides now say they are in calmer waters. “I never doubted myself,” the son of F1 legend Michael Schumacher said […]
July ‘a decisive month’ for ’22 title – Leclerc
Jul.1 (GMM) Charles Leclerc admits July will be a “decisive month” for his world championship chances. Off the back of recent reliability dramas and the new dominance of reigning world champion Max Verstappen, the Ferrari driver is now almost 50 points behind the leading Red Bull. “July is a decisive month,” Leclerc told Sky Italia […]
Alfa Romeo set to keep Zhou in 2023
Jul.1 (GMM) Alfa Romeo looks set to keep Formula 1’s first Chinese driver on board for another season. Earlier, it appeared likely that the Swiss-based team’s favourite junior, 18-year-old Theo Pourchaire, would become Valtteri Bottas’ next teammate. But according to both Auto Motor und Sport (Germany) and the Swiss newspaper Blick, Guanyu Zhou looks to […]
Latifi admits 2022 could be last season in F1
Jul.1 (GMM) Nicholas Latifi has admitted that 2022 could be his last season in Formula 1. However, the Canadian driver noted that rumours he would be ousted by Williams for poor performance after his recent home race in Montreal were side of the mark. “Rumours and criticism are part of the game,” he told RTL […]
Russian slams Britain over F3 driver ban
Jul.1 (GMM) A Russian politician has slammed Britain and Silverstone for banning a Formula 3 driver from attending and racing at this weekend’s British GP. Alexander Smolyar, 20, was refused a visa to enter the country but according to Tass news agency he was also banned by British motor racing authorities over the Ukraine crisis. […]
Cultural politics storm F1 paddock
Jul.1 (GMM) Even with a fascinating battle for the world championship in play, cultural politics are dominating the scene in Formula 1 for now. The paddock is now up in arms about the latest comments made by former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, including that he would “take a bullet” for Russian president Vladimir Putin. He […]
All rookie drivers not good for Haas – Steiner
Jun.30 (GMM) Mick Schumacher is yet to secure his seat at Haas for the 2023 season, boss Gunther Steiner admits. Steiner found himself the subject of criticism for his handling of Schumacher’s difficult 2022 campaign to date, raising serious questions about whether the collaboration has a future. “We have not yet discussed the future,” he […]
Wolff won’t take back seat in F1 meetings
Jun.30 (GMM) Toto Wolff insists he won’t be taking a back seat at the next round of team bosses meetings this weekend at Silverstone. The Mercedes team principal took heat from many of his rivals after Canada for getting angry and ‘theatrical’ on the issue on porpoising in front of Netflix cameras. Wolff told Kronen […]
No ‘concrete talks’ with Vettel yet – Krack
Jun.30 (GMM) Aston Martin has reiterated its intention to keep racing with Sebastian Vettel in 2023. Team boss Mike Krack has already said this week that if the quadruple world champion “wants to continue” with the Silverstone based team, “we want to keep him for a long time”. Whether the 34-year-old German does want to […]
F2 team saves Vips’ career over racism scandal
Jun.30 (GMM) Juri Vips has been thrown a career-saving lifeline by his Formula 2 team. The 21-year-old Estonian was a Red Bull junior and F1 reserve driver until he was dumped by the energy drink company for uttering the ‘N-word’ during a live gaming stream. But his F2 employer, the Silverstone based Hitech team which […]
Verstappen to appear in next F1 Netflix series
Jun.30 (GMM) Max Verstappen will appear “a little more” in the next series of the controversial yet popular official Formula 1 documentary Drive to Survive. The reigning world champion withdrew from featuring prominently in the latest series because he sees the way it is produced is “fake”. “There were some things I wasn’t happy about,” […]
Piquet denies racism over ‘N-word’ storm
Jun.30 (GMM) F1 legend Nelson Piquet says he was not being racist when he called fellow multiple world champion Lewis Hamilton an ‘N-word’. The world of Formula 1 reacted in disgust when Brazilian Piquet, whose daughter Kelly is dating Hamilton’s 2021 title rival Max Verstappen, was quoted as referred to the Mercedes driver as “neguinho”. […]
Barrichello won’t say Sainz is new ‘number 2’
Jun.30 (GMM) Rubens Barrichello has refused to weigh in on the discussion about whether Carlos Sainz is his modern-day successor as Ferrari’s ‘number 2’ driver. The Brazilian was one of the sport’s longest-serving veterans with 11 career victories, but he is best remembered as the clear secondary driver during Ferrari’s Michael Schumacher era. He thinks […]
Ricciardo relationship not broken – Brown
Jun.29 (GMM) Speculation Daniel Ricciardo may lose his McLaren seat at the end of the season appears to be fading for now. Team CEO Zak Brown caused a stir recently when he said there were “mechanisms” to extract the struggling Australian from his 2023 contract, as he had “generally not met his or our expectations”. […]
Schumacher struggle ‘typical’ of Haas – Grosjean
Jun.29 (GMM) Mick Schumacher’s struggles in 2022 is part of a “typical” trend at Haas, according to his predecessor at the small Ferrari-linked American team. Romain Grosjean, who was replaced by young German Schumacher at the end of 2020 and now races in Indycar, agrees that it has “not been easy” for the 23-year-old so […]
Alonso could be five-time champion – Berger
Jun.29 (GMM) F1 legend Gerhard Berger says he is “100 percent sure” Fernando Alonso would be charging for the title this year at the wheel of a Red Bull or Ferrari. The comments come as Renault-owned Alpine reportedly dithers over whether to re-sign the 40-year-old Spaniard for 2023 or instead promote young reserve driver Oscar […]