Mar.3 (GMM) Former F1 race director Niels Wittich remains baffled by his abrupt late-2024 dismissal from the FIA. “It came as a surprise to me too,” he told Sky Deutschland last Friday in Bahrain. “For me there were no signs that something wasn’t working or that there was a reason to make a change in […]
Sainz proposes fix for F1 testing restrictions
Mar.3 (GMM) New Grand Prix Drivers’ Association director Carlos Sainz thinks Formula 1 should reform its strict testing regulations. Having switched from Ferrari to Williams for the new season, the Spaniard was unveiled as the retired Sebastian Vettel’s replacement at the F1 drivers’ union. “I had a long time this winter to think,” he said. […]
Verstappen middle finger ‘a joke’ – Red Bull
Mar.3 (GMM) The FIA will take no action against Max Verstappen’s latest faux pas. The quadruple world champion has been at the centre of the harsh new driver conduct clampdown, serving community service for a 2024 expletive and – like his peers – facing a slew of even more draconian penalties this season. Nico Hulkenberg […]
On and off-track F1 trouble for Aston Martin
Mar.3 (GMM) Both on and off the track, there are some glum faces in green uniforms at Aston Martin. The team has used the basis of last year’s car for 2025, with Fernando Alonso openly admitting that the results of the 24 looming grands prix are much less important than the all-new 2026 project. “If […]
Moves afoot to scrap narrower 2026 F1 tyres
Mar.3 (GMM) Rumblings in the Bahrain test paddock late last week suggested there are moves to scrap the new narrower dimensions of the Pirelli tyres for 2026. Amid the rumours, Max Verstappen was coy when asked for his opinion about how the development tyres currently feel on the test circuits: “They’re round,” he smiled. Mercedes’ […]
Ocon will not use F1’s new driver cooling system
Mar.3 (GMM) Esteban Ocon says he won’t be wearing Formula 1’s new ‘cooling vest’ when the temperatures soar in 2025. Earlier, the FIA was determined to make the new technology compulsory this year to protect the drivers’ health, but ultimately agreed with the teams that the innovation should be voluntary this year as the innovation […]
Teams can test one-year-old F1 cars in 2026 – report
Mar.3 (GMM) Formula 1 teams will be allowed to use one-year-old 2025 cars for their ‘Testing of Previous Cars’ (TPC) programs next year. The usual TPC rules state that the single seaters permitted to run on actual test tracks, usually to benefit younger drivers, must be two years old. But as the rules are changing […]
McLaren ‘ahead for now’ as Bahrain test ends
Mar.3 (GMM) As the Bahrain test ended, the entire paddock agreed – McLaren is heading into the season-opening Australian GP with a clear lead. Well-known Italian journalist Leo Turrini is slightly disappointed. “I’ll be honest, friends,” he wrote in his blog. “The new Ferrari did not live up to expectations. (Charles) Leclerc said so explicitly. […]
Barcelona hopes to host pre-season tests in 2026
Feb.28 (GMM) Barcelona is hoping to make a return to Formula 1’s official pre-season testing schedule in 2026. For the mere three days of group running this year, the teams opted to head to Bahrain – in the hope of predictable, sunny weather. However, despite its desert location, the Sakhir track has – in Dr […]
‘Too early’ to talk about return of V10s – Vasseur
Feb.28 (GMM) It’s “too early” to get excited about the scream of naturally-aspirated V10 engines returning to Formula 1. That is the view of Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur, with both F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali and FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem seemingly united over the popular prospect of the end of the current ‘hybrid’ era. F1 […]
Alpine ‘still French’ amid Dmitry Mazepin visit
Feb.28 (GMM) Alpine remains a French Formula 1 team, despite a lack of interest from the country itself. That’s the view of team owner Renault’s Italian CEO Luca de Meo, whose even more famous countryman Flavio Briatore is busily revolutionising the outfit after a major 2024 slump. “The car is much better,” Briatore told Canal […]
Newey office, drawing board, ready for Monday
Feb.28 (GMM) Adrian Newey’s new office is ready and waiting for him to start work on Monday, reveals Aston Martin CEO Andy Cowell. Newey, 66, left Red Bull amid the team’s internal chaos last year and has been on ‘gardening leave’ ever since. He therefore has had nothing to do with Aston Martin’s 2025 car, […]
McLaren ‘clearly ahead’, Red Bull to fit new parts
Feb.28 (GMM) After two of the three days of official pre-season group testing in Bahrain, the hierarchy for 2025 is becoming clear. “McLaren is clearly ahead,” reports the authoritative German specialist magazine Auto Motor und Sport, a day after Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said Lando Norris was “on a planet of his own”. That is […]
Webber admits Piastri ‘behind’ Norris in late ’24
Feb.27 (GMM) Former F1 driver Mark Webber is coy about whether McLaren, and his protege Oscar Piastri, may be heading into the 2025 season as favourites. “We’ll see,” the Australian, who now personally manages his 23-year-old countryman Piastri, told RTBF on the opening day of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Wednesday. After McLaren won the […]
Extreme flexing as Red Bull ‘resolves’ 2024 car problems
Feb.27 (GMM) A full pecking order will have to wait for now, but insiders are already starting to get an idea of which teams and drivers will lead once the 2025 season gets racing in Melbourne next month. Official pre-season testing began in Bahrain on Wednesday, where a total power outage marred the end of […]
FIA controversy as two-stop Monaco rule confirmed
Feb.27 (GMM) A cloud of controversy emerged from Wednesday’s meeting of the World Motor Sport Council, as the FIA body approved mandatory two-stop strategies for the 2025 Monaco GP. In a statement, the FIA said the move requiring each driver to use at least three sets of tyres in the normally-processional race is to improve […]
Ecclestone to spend 95th birthday in court with Massa
Feb.26 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone will spend his 95th birthday in London’s High Court – with Felipe Massa. Massa, the former Ferrari driver, launched a reportedly $82 million lawsuit against the FIA, Formula 1, and former F1 CEO Ecclestone about a year ago. He alleges that 2023 comments by Ecclestone made abundantly clear that both F1 […]
Susie Wolff may run for FIA president – report
Feb.26 (GMM) Toto Wolff’s wife Susie may be shaping up to become the next FIA president. At the end of 2023, the current highly controversial president Mohammed Ben Sulayem launched an investigation about a potential conflict of interest involving Mercedes boss Toto and Susie, boss of the F1-affiliated female-only ‘F1 Academy’. Following a loud backlash […]
Hamilton has lost qualifying ‘raw speed’ – Kiesa
Feb.26 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton might struggle in qualifying but he might still be “the best” in the grands prix after switching to Ferrari. That’s the view of a low-profile former Formula 1 driver, Nicolas Kiesa, who contested just a handful of races for Minardi in 2003 as Jos Verstappen’s teammate. He was asked by Danish […]
Red Bull admits new and old cars ‘very similar’
Feb.26 (GMM) Christian Horner openly admits Red Bull’s 2025 car is “visually very similar” to its predecessor. On Tuesday, the team revealed dimly-lit photos of the ‘new’ car just as Max Verstappen and Liam Lawson were preparing for their filming day in Bahrain ahead of official testing. Insiders noted that the RB21 is visually almost […]