Mar.24 (GMM) The jubilation of Lewis Hamilton’s breakthrough Ferrari win from pole in the Shanghai sprint exploded in spectacular style just a single day later. Charles Leclerc and Hamilton were fifth and sixth respectively as they crossed the chequered flag – after their first collision early in the race and even amid controversy after the […]
Sainz ‘confused’ as pre-season pace vanishes**
Mar.24 (GMM) Carlos Sainz is leaving Shanghai scratching his head about “one of the strangest drops in performance I’ve had in my career”. Having lost his Ferrari race seat and accepted a backwards step down the grid, the 30-year-old Spaniard actually impressed in his new Williams early on. He crashed in the opening moments of […]
Verstappen-to-Mercedes ‘not relevant now’ – Wolff
Mar.24 (GMM) Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is trying to halt rumours that he’s already in talks with Max Verstappen about linking up for 2026 and beyond. Former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher thinks he’s already seeing signs that the quadruple world champion could trigger an exit clause and jump ship as the current Red Bull crisis […]
Red Bull pinning hopes on early car upgrade
Mar.24 (GMM) Red Bull is pinning its hopes on an early upgrade for its troublesome 2025 car. As Liam Lawson struggles to find any pace from the RB21 whatsoever, even Max Verstappen could not make the podium in Shanghai on Sunday. “It is clear that we have a technical deficit,” team advisor Dr Helmut Marko […]
Tsunoda should reject Lawson’s race seat – Schumacher
Mar.24 (GMM) Wild rumours are raging that Liam Lawson has now completed his second, and final, race weekend for Red Bull. “Liam Lawson is already out for the next race,” former F1 driver and now television pundit Ralf Schumacher told Sky Deutschland. “(Yuki) Tsunoda will replace him. It hasn’t been fully confirmed yet, but that’s […]
Norris ‘not ready’ for F1 title ‘pressure’ – media
Mar.23 (GMM) Formula 1’s international media is already questioning whether Lando Norris is ready to become world champion. The 2024 runner-up emerged from the winter determined to learn from his battle with Max Verstappen last year – with a re-run now shaping up as Norris finds himself in the standout car in the field. However, […]
Flexi-wing spotlight captures first victim in China
Mar.23 (GMM) The flexi-wings saga in Shanghai has cost Williams a whopping 50,000 euros fine. However, the team insists it did nothing wrong – especially in terms of running an excessively bendy rear wing. It’s a hot topic at the moment, with McLaren in particular but also other teams under the FIA’s spotlight – and […]
Lawson ‘would be faster’ at Racing Bulls – Verstappen
Mar.23 (GMM) Liam Lawson shouldn’t be too disappointed if he is dropped by Red Bull Racing. That’s the suspicion of quadruple world champion Max Verstappen, who is struggling to hide his discontent with life at the wheel of his 2025 car at present. The Dutchman is well in contention for his fifth consecutive drivers’ world […]
Red Bull eyes Hadjar for Lawson’s race seat
Mar.23 (GMM) Liam Lawson’s tenure at Red Bull Racing appears to be nearing a very premature end. While teammate Max Verstappen continues his quest for a fifth consecutive world championship, Lawson has been legitimately the slowest driver of all in Shanghai – off the back of a similarly-dismal team debut in Australia. “It takes time,” […]
Team bosses doubt V10s to return in 2028
Mar.22 (GMM) Top team bosses are not confident Formula 1 cars will be screaming with old-school V10 power any time soon. Discussions are clearly taking place behind the scenes about whether the sport should realise the mistake of the radical 2026 engine rules and delay the introduction of the even more electrically-augmented ‘power units’. Then, […]
No quick fix for ‘fundamental’ Haas car flaw
Mar.22 (GMM) Haas’ 2025 car is fundamentally flawed, team boss Ayao Komatsu admits. At the end of 2023, team owner Gene Haas was so unhappy with the small American outfit’s dire performance that he sacked Gunther Steiner and replaced him with senior engineer Komatsu. Haas took a big step forward last year – but have […]
Ferrari, Hamilton ‘above all relieved’ in China – Gene
Mar.22 (GMM) Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton, are back. “We didn’t expect it at all,” long-time development driver and ambassador Marc Gene told DAZN after witnessing Hamilton win the sprint race from pole in Shanghai. “I wouldn’t have bet a single euro of my own money on it,” he smiled. Indeed, Hamilton trailed teammate Charles Leclerc […]
Retaining Verstappen may be ‘difficult’ – Marko
Mar.22 (GMM) Red Bull will find it “difficult” to keep Max Verstappen if the team can’t reclaim its old winning ways. That’s the frank admission of advisor Dr Helmut Marko, after McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted to phoning Verstappen’s management whilst predicting a 2026 move to Mercedes for the quadruple world champion. “Apparently he (Brown) […]
Lawson to get one more race to ‘find his rhythm’
Mar.22 (GMM) Red Bull will wait one more race to start getting too worried about Liam Lawson. After a horror opening weekend as Max Verstappen’s teammate in Melbourne, New Zealander Lawson, 23, was dead last in sprint qualifying as the action got going again in China. Red Bull opted for Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda mainly […]
Hulkenberg better than Bottas in ‘driver feedback’
Mar.21 (GMM) Simply changing the driver lineup will eventually pay off in actual laptime, confident Sauber technical boss James Key has declared. Having ousted Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas in favour of rookie Gabriel Bortoleto and veteran Nico Hulkenberg for 2025, the Audi-owned team got off to a good start in Australia. Throughout most of […]
Todt hopes F1 returns to Russia
Mar.21 (GMM) Former FIA president Jean Todt hopes Russia will return to the Formula 1 calendar. When Haas sacked Nikita Mazepin and his Russian sponsor at the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, F1 also unilaterally axed the heavily Vladimir Putin-supported Russian GP at Sochi. At the time, moves were afoot to relocate the […]
Jordan’s friends recall F1 legend’s final days
Mar.21 (GMM) Eddie Jordan clung on to life until the final moments, some of his best friends in Formula 1 have revealed. The iconic former team owner and boss, founder of the Silverstone site that today Aston Martin calls home, left the F1 paddock in shock when his family confirmed he had passed away at […]
‘Common sense’ added to F1 swearing ban – Sainz
Mar.21 (GMM) “Common sense” has been applied to the highly controversial new swearing ban in Formula 1. That’s the view of Carlos Sainz, who in China was asked about reports from Melbourne a week ago that indicated the FIA had backtracked on the harsh clampdown. From Australia onwards, stewards are only going to consider penalties […]
Mini-DRS clampdown about ‘other teams’ – Norris
Mar.21 (GMM) McLaren “could win every race in 2025,” according to Mercedes’ George Russell. Although Max Verstappen finished just behind championship leader Lando Norris in Melbourne, the superiority of the McLaren’s tyre degradation on a drier track was estimated by some to be as much as a full second per lap. Russell thinks McLaren’s current […]
Three rookies under major pressure in China
Mar.21 (GMM) Three F1 rookies have arrived in China with an awful lot of pressure on their shoulders. Max Verstappen’s new teammate, Liam Lawson, had a horror weekend in Australia amid both lagging pace and a crash on Sunday. It prompted McLaren CEO Zak Brown to declare that he thinks Red Bull made a mistake […]