Apr.30 (GMM) Ferrari may struggle to improve its car once racing gets underway in 2020 due to the shortened calendar, Charles Leclerc has admitted. Currently, the plan is for the first two ‘ghost races’ in July to take place in Austria, followed by Silverstone and then up to a dozen more rounds. Former F1 driver […]
Month: April 2020
Even late 2020 races in Japan, Brazil in doubt
Apr.30 (GMM) Even the 2020 Japanese GP is now in doubt. Earlier, there were hopes October’s Suzuka race could be safe, given Japan’s handling of the pandemic. Indeed, mere weeks ago, motorsport testing was still taking place in the country. But organisers of the Japanese GP have just announced that ticket sales for the October […]
Health minister says Austria GP depends on F1 plan
Apr.30 (GMM) Austria’s health minister says the strength of the “security concept” put in place by Formula 1 will determine whether the sport gets racing again from July. The current plan is for back-to-back race weekends to kick off at the Red Bull Ring from July 5, with measures including no spectators or media and […]
Corona crisis could claim Williams and Haas – Schumacher
Apr.30 (GMM) At least two teams are at risk of collapse as F1’s shutdown period for the coronavirus pandemic continues. That is the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who thinks the team he won all six of his grand prix wins with – Williams – is most directly endangered. When asked by Bild […]
Spa ‘ghost race’ still possible – promoter
Apr.29 (GMM) Spa-Francorchamps boss Vanessa Maes has denied that the Belgian GP will definitely not take place in 2020. Race promoter Spa Grand Prix announced recently that because all mass events in Belgium have been banned, the Formula 1 race cannot go ahead as scheduled. Indeed, a provisional F1 ‘corona calendar’ began doing the rounds […]
Hockenheim in talks for 2020 ‘corona calendar’ race
Apr.29 (GMM) Hockenheim has emerged as a potential race host on F1’s new ‘corona calendar’ for 2020. Germany was not scheduled to host a race this year, but the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung newspaper says Hockenheim circuit officials were recently approached by F1 chiefs. “There was a request from FOM, including questions about the necessary lead […]
Wolff to skip more races in 2020
Apr.29 (GMM) Toto Wolff says he will not attend every race once the 2020 season finally gets up and racing. Last year, the Mercedes team boss turned heads by not travelling to Brazil – the first time he had skipped a race since 2013. Since then, the Austrian has bought into Aston Martin, whose new […]
No Monza race in 2020 is ‘fake news’ – Damiani
Apr.29 (GMM) Italian GP official Angelo Sticchi Damiani has slammed as “fake news” reports that Monza will not be on F1’s new 2020 race calendar. Bild newspaper has published what it purports to be the schedule drawn up to cope with the corona crisis, but it leaves off Monza as well as Zandvoort and Spa-Francorchamps. […]
Montezemolo would re-sign Vettel for 2021
Apr.29 (GMM) Luca di Montezemolo says that if he was still Ferrari president, he would re-sign Sebastian Vettel for 2021. The 72-year-old’s successors at Maranello have reportedly offered Vettel a new deal, but the one-year offer with a big pay-cut has been described by insiders as a “joke”. When asked by Leo Turrini if he […]
Magnussen not interested in sim racing
Apr.29 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen says he isn’t interested in becoming a prominent ‘virtual’ racing driver. All of Haas’ other F1 drivers – Romain Grosjean and testers Pietro Fittipaldi and Louis Deletraz – have been racing from their home simulators during the corona crisis. But Magnussen says he is not very interested. “I don’t think you […]
Vettel may opt for McLaren switch – Roos
Apr.29 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel may decide to reject Ferrari’s “immoral” contract offer and instead switch to McLaren. That is the view of Sascha Roos, the commentator for Sky Germany. “He has just received an immoral offer from Ferrari, with a big drop in salary and probably not with number 1 status,” he said. “Perhaps they […]
Pressure ‘just part’ of Red Bull program – Kvyat
Apr.29 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat says “pressure” is just a natural part of being a driver in Red Bull’s notorious F1 program. While the program has produced great drivers including Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, it is also known for quickly promoting young drivers and then discarding them. Russian Kvyat is one driver who rose all […]
Government wants to make Austria GP plan ‘possible’
Apr.29 (GMM) The Austrian government is showing a tentative green light to Red Bull and F1’s plans to host back-to-back races in Spielberg in July. Dr Helmut Marko is at the centre of the plans, which involve a range of measures including excluding spectators and the media, and conducting corona tests on those present at […]
Team boss hits out at ‘critical’ Ecclestone
Apr.28 (GMM) With F1 sidelined and the DTM series on the brink of collapse, the world of motorsport is in its worst ever crisis by far. Frits van Amersfoort runs a well-known junior single seater team, most recently made famous by providing Max Verstappen the springboard for his meteoric F1 debut. He says Bernie Ecclestone […]
Audi exit leaves DTM on brink of collapse
Apr.28 (GMM) Amid the corona crisis, the German touring car series DTM has been left in tatters with Audi’s shock decision to withdraw after 2020. Following Mercedes’ earlier departure, it will leave the series with a single manufacturer – BMW. “Today is a difficult day for motorsport in Germany and Europe,” said Gerhard Berger, who […]
‘Public’ to be part of Zandvoort 2020 decision – Lammers
Apr.28 (GMM) “The sentiment of the public” will be part of Zandvoort’s deliberations about hosting a Formula 1 race behind closed doors later in 2020. That is the news from Jan Lammers, a former driver who now represents the promoters of the Dutch GP. Earlier, Lammers indicated that Zandvoort was not interested in a ‘ghost […]
Now Norris eyeing ‘real’ Indycar race
Apr.28 (GMM) Lando Norris says he would like to take part in an Indycar race – in the real world. The McLaren driver, who has been a star during F1’s shutdown period with his online racing antics, turned heads by winning the latest official Indycar event against the series’ regular drivers on the iRacing platform. […]
Inflexible Ferrari ‘should leave F1’ – Schumacher
Apr.28 (GMM) Ferrari should leave Formula 1 if it is not willing to drastically reduce costs amid the corona crisis. That is the view not only of McLaren’s Zak Brown, but of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher. Team boss Mattia Binotto made comments last week that were interpreted as a threat by Ferrari that it […]
F1 returning to racing ‘important’ – Ocon
Apr.28 (GMM) Esteban Ocon has admitted his “huge disappointment” that he will not be able to contest his home grand prix in 2020. French GP boss Eric Boullier has announced that because of the “decisions of the French state”, racing at Paul Ricard this year is “impossible”. “Up to now, the upheaval in the calendar […]
Sainz says ‘capable’ of thriving at Ferrari
Apr.28 (GMM) Carlos Sainz insists he is “not going to tell you anything new” as rumours grow that he is high on Ferrari’s wish-list for 2021. It is claimed that, along with Daniel Ricciardo, the Spaniard could replace Sebastian Vettel after the quadruple world champion was offered only a one-year deal and pay-cut. “I try […]