Apr.8 (GMM) Force India is planning to introduce a “B” version of its 2015 car. The Silverstone based team has had a poor start to the season, after the long-delayed VJM08 missed the opening tests of the winter period. On top of that, Force India has moved its wind tunnel operation from Brackley to the […]
Month: April 2015
Mosley warns F1 facing ‘collapse’
Apr.8 (GMM) FIA president Max Mosley has warned F1 could “collapse” if it does not sort out struggling teams’ financial problems. The now 74-year-old Briton left office five years ago having tried and failed to introduce a mandatory budget cap. Mosley told the German news agency DPA that he managed to get every team “except […]
Lotus on pole for Renault buyout – report
Apr.8 (GMM) Lotus has reportedly moved into pole position to be taken over by the French manufacturer Renault. Dissatisfied with its current status as mere supplier to Red Bull, the marque has been in talks with the energy drink company’s junior team Toro Rosso about a buyout. But Dr Helmut Marko said last week that […]
Australian GP boss survives cancer
Apr.8 (GMM) Australian grand prix supremo Ron Walker is cancer-free, the 75-year-old has confirmed. A famously close ally of Bernie Ecclestone, the influential Australian businessman was instrumental in the race’s switch from Adelaide some two decades ago. His last race as chairman of the Australian grand prix corporation was the 2015 season opener in March. […]
Manager wants calm for Mick Schumacher’s debut
Apr.8 (GMM) Michael Schumacher’s manager on Wednesday urged for calm as the German legend’s 16-year-old son started his own climb towards formula one. We reported earlier that 100 journalists and other media professionals had flocked to the Oschersleben circuit, where Mick Schumacher on Wednesday started official pre-season testing for his first year in single seaters. […]
100 journalists to cover Mick Schumacher test
Apr.8 (GMM) A huge media contingent is set to descend on what is normally a low-profile test session of the minor German single-seater category Formula 4. Die Welt, a major German daily, reports that some 100 journalists, photographers and camera crews have registered to work this week at the Oschersleben circuit. Attracting all the attention […]
Mercedes takes new front wing to China – report
Apr.8 (GMM) Mercedes has reacted to the “wake-up call” of Malaysia. Toto Wolff was stunned at Sepang when his formerly-dominant silver cars were beaten to the chequer by a resurgent Ferrari driven by Sebastian Vettel. The Mercedes chief immediately announced a re-think on both the technical and strategy side. Technically, Brackley has responded by fast-forwarding […]
Vettel mechanic Handkammer leaves F1
Apr.8 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel’s former chief mechanic has swapped a 25-year career in formula one for the world of electric road cars. Last October, we reported that Kenny Handkammer had left Red Bull. “We have found someone else for this position better suited in the course of the restructuring of the team,” Dr Helmut Marko […]
Honda ‘still 100hp down’ on rivals – report
Apr.8 (GMM) In Malaysia, McLaren-Honda team figures including champion drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button extolled the progress made in the fortnight since Australia. Now, according to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, an actual number has been put on the improvement of the burgeoning Honda engine — 25 horse power. But “We are still over […]
Ferrari sets sights on more 2015 wins
Apr.8 (GMM) Suddenly, Ferrari’s team boss is making plans to actually fulfil a tongue-in-cheek pre-season pledge. As he played down the team’s hopes for 2015, Maurizio Arrivabene quipped before Melbourne that if the 2015 car wins four races this year, “I will run without shoes to the Maranello hills”. But already at the second round […]
Ecclestone won’t let Wolff ‘kill’ F1
Apr.8 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has joined Max Mosley in fearing for the very survival of formula one. Former FIA president Mosley, a famously close ally of Ecclestone’s until the end of his reign in 2009, warned this week that the current state of the sport could see it “collapse”. Now, F1 supremo Ecclestone has told […]
Ferrari pushing on for Mercedes title battle
Apr.7 (GMM) F1 is shaping up for a ‘silver versus red’ battle in 2015. The dominant reigning champions Mercedes were surprised in Malaysia to have been beaten to the chequered flag by Ferrari newcomer Sebastian Vettel. Boss Toto Wolff said the “wake-up call” will speed up technical developments and trigger a strategy re-think. His colleague […]
Merhi admits he could lose Manor seat
Apr.7 (GMM) Roberto Merhi is heading to China this week fully expecting to line up for Manor on the Shanghai grid. The Spaniard knows that he will be ousted by the former Marussia team if a better-funded driver comes forward. So ahead of the back-to-back China and Bahrain rounds, the 24-year-old rookie admitted to Marca […]
Toro Rosso happy with Renault progress
Apr.7 (GMM) Toro Rosso says it is happy with the progress being made by Renault. While the senior team Red Bull slammed its French partner after Melbourne, Toro Rosso has emerged as the more competitive 2015 package. The Faenza based outfit, bought by Red Bull from Minardi in 2005, and Renault are now openly considering […]
Officials defend Alonso amid latest rumours
Apr.7 (GMM) Two leading figures in Spanish motor sport have hit back at the latest rumours about Fernando Alonso’s Barcelona testing crash. German publications are openly doubting the honesty of Alonso’s claim in Malaysia that he crashed because the steering on his McLaren-Honda “locked”. The highly respected Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt said […]
Spaniards defend Alonso after McLaren switch
Apr.7 (GMM) Two of Fernando Alonso’s countrymen have backed the Spaniard to eventually succeed at the wheel of a McLaren-Honda. McLaren’s early 2015 struggle, and his Ferrari successor Sebastian Vettel’s Malaysia breakthrough, caused many observers to question Alonso’s decision to switch teams over the winter. But Roberto Merhi, a Spanish rookie for the Manor team, […]
Carmen Jorda backs all-female F1 proposal
Apr.7 (GMM) Carmen Jorda has added another voice to the debate about the idea of an all-female F1 series. Bernie Ecclestone’s proposal was roundly blasted, with a reporter for the Associated Press even describing it as a step to “sexual apartheid”. Williams tester Susie Wolff said a grand prix category just for women is “definitely […]
Van der Garde hopes Sauber saga ‘changes F1’
Apr.5 (GMM) Giedo van der Garde has revealed the awkwardness of his situation at the 2015 season opener, as he pressed his claim against Sauber. Ultimately, the Swiss team settled its dispute with the Dutch driver with a reportedly multi-million euro payment. But until then, van der Garde argued hard that his valid 2015 race […]
Both drivers attended pre-China meeting – Lauda
Apr.5 (GMM) Mercedes is pulling together to fend off the new threat posed by Ferrari. Sebastian Vettel’s Sepang win was a shock to the formerly-dominant reigning champions, prompting a rare factory get-together involving both Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg late last week. Germany’s Bild am Sonntag newspaper said that, previously, meetings at Brackley usually involved […]
McLaren drivers ‘happy with the car’ – Dennis
Apr.5 (GMM) McLaren supremo Ron Dennis is confident the team can emerge from the early troubles of the new Honda era. He is quoted by France’s L’Equipe as saying the bright side of the early bad reliability and lack of pace is that drivers Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button are happy with the MP4-30 car. […]