Jun.23 (GMM) Alex Zanardi’s brain injuries do not compare with those suffered by fellow former F1 driver Michael Schumacher. That is the claim of Giuseppe Olivieri, the doctor who operated on Zanardi following his head-on crash with a truck during a hand cycling race in Italy last weekend. Former Williams driver Zanardi, who lost his […]
Month: June 2020
End of German free TV deal ‘about Vettel’ – Ecclestone
Jun.23 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone thinks the looming end of free-to-air television coverage of Formula 1 in Germany is due to the demise of Sebastian Vettel’s career. Hot on the heels of Ferrari’s news last month that it will split with the quadruple world champion after 2020, the German broadcaster RTL has now announced that will […]
Ecclestone hopes Ferrari ‘play fair’ in 2020
Jun.23 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone hopes Ferrari “play fair” in 2020. The former F1 supremo is a key ally and friend of quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel, who will be ousted by the Maranello team after this season. “Sebastian’s only goal now is to be faster than Charles (Leclerc),” Ecclestone told the Swiss newspaper Blick. “In […]
F1 reserve role no different in corona era – Kubica
Jun.23 (GMM) Robert Kubica does not think his new role as a reserve driver will bounce him back onto the Formula 1 grid sooner rather than later. The Pole had intended to combine his new Alfa Romeo role with a full-time race seat in the German touring car championship DTM this year. Now, the very […]
Webber tips Vettel comeback in 2022
Jun.23 (GMM) Mark Webber thinks Ferrari has made a good choice by signing up Carlos Sainz for 2021. The signing means the Maranello team is ousting Sebastian Vettel, who won all four of his world championships as Webber’s teammate at Red Bull last decade. It is suggested that if Vettel cannot secure the Mercedes seat […]
F1 cars to display rainbows in 2020
Jun.23 (GMM) There may initially be no one in the grandstands, but fans at home will at least be seeing a low of rainbows in Formula 1 this year. The sport has announced that it wants to “tackle the major issues” facing society in 2020, including coronavirus, sustainability, and now racism and diversity. So in […]
F1 fans set to flock to Austrian ‘ghost races’
Jun.22 (GMM) Even if they’re banned from entering the circuit, plenty of fans are expected to descend on the region around Austria’s Red Bull Ring next weekend. Austrian reports quote the chief of Spielberg’s tourism body Tourismus am Spielberg, Manuela Machner, as confirming that hotel occupancies will be at an impressive 70-80 percent. “We don’t […]
Only 60pc of F1 drivers can win in Mercedes – Verstappen
Jun.22 (GMM) Only 60 percent of the current drivers in Formula 1 would be able to win the world championship in a dominant Mercedes car, according to Max Verstappen. Many are predicting that Red Bull driver Verstappen, 22, will be able to take on six time world champion Lewis Hamilton in 2020. The Dutchman admits […]
Sochi admits Portugal trying to take F1 race date
Jun.22 (GMM) Russia’s grand prix boss has played down reports that Portugal could be set to take the place of Sochi on the 2020 ‘corona calendar’. It has been reported that the Algarve circuit in Portimao, Portugal, is poised to take Russia’s currently-scheduled September 27 race date. “We are continuing to prepare for our race, […]
Renault used ‘new engines’ in F1 test – Marko
Jun.22 (GMM) This week, Ferrari and Red Bull will prepare on track for next weekend’s return to Formula 1 action after the long ‘corona crisis’ shutdown. Italian reports say Ferrari will run a two-year-old car on June 23 at Mugello, the circuit it owns and is slated to host a race one week after Monza. […]
RTL quits as rival bidder offers F1 ‘double’
Jun.22 (GMM) After 30 years in Formula 1, Germany’s free-to-air television broadcaster RTL is pulling out of the sport at the end of this year. Bild newspaper believes the pay-TV broadcaster Sky will take over with a lucrative exclusive deal. “If there are competitors in the game who are willing to offer double, you have […]
2021 cars to be slower despite ‘freeze’ – Green
Jun.22 (GMM) The cars of 2021 are likely to be slower than this year’s 2020 field, according to Racing Point technical boss Andy Green. That is despite the fact that large parts of the 2020 cars are being ‘frozen’ to keep costs down amid the corona crisis. A complex ‘token’ system is being set up […]
Doctor admits Zanardi at risk of brain damage
Jun.22 (GMM) Alex Zanardi is at risk of brain damage as a result of a head-on crash with a truck during a hand cycling race in Italy. The former F1 driver, who famously lost his legs in a horror American open-wheeler crash in 2001, crossed into the oncoming lane on a downhill bend and sustained […]
2020 to be Hamilton vs Verstappen – Webber
Jun.22 (GMM) F1’s 2020 world championship will be a two-man fight, according to former driver Mark Webber. “In reality, it will be between (Max) Verstappen and Lewis (Hamilton),” the Australian told Ziggo Sport. The sport’s ‘corona calendar’, set to kick off after a long shutdown, will begin next weekend with back-to-back races in Austria. “I […]
Ecclestone tried to lure Montoya back to F1
Jun.22 (GMM) Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone once tried to convince Juan Pablo Montoya to return to the sport. Out of favour at McLaren, the Colombian scrapped his six-year-old Formula 1 career in mid-2006 in favour of a long-term Nascar deal. Montoya, now 44, says he never regretted the move. “When I left, the matter […]
Hamilton apologised for fake news comments – Marko
Jun.19 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed that world champion Lewis Hamilton apologised for this week’s media misunderstanding. The Mercedes driver had slammed the top Red Bull official after Marko was quoted as suggesting Hamilton was “distracted” by the Black Lives Matter movement. The comments attributed to Marko, however, were false. Marko said Red Bull […]
‘No great pain’ after Renault test – Ocon
Jun.19 (GMM) Esteban Ocon says his test in Austria this week reassured him that he is ready for Formula 1’s post-corona crisis restart. Although the test irked Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko, Renault drivers Ocon and Daniel Ricciardo drove a two-year-old car at the scene of the forthcoming Austrian GP. “It was great. It only […]
Kvyat ‘often faster than Ricciardo’ – Tost
Jun.19 (GMM) Team boss Franz Tost says he is more than happy with Alpha Tauri’s two drivers. The Austrian suggested that both Daniil Kvyat and Pierre Gasly were given premature call-ups to the senior Red Bull team in the past years. “We actually had no choice (about the promotions) with either of them,” Tost told […]
Leclerc, not Vettel, taking 2020 Ferrari pay-cut
Jun.19 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel did not join his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in agreeing to reduce his pay during the 2020 corona crisis, according to Italian reports. The reports, suggesting that tensions between the quadruple world champion and the Maranello team are now likely to further escalate, emerged after boss Mattia Binotto revealed that Leclerc […]
Mugello ‘so close’ to 2020 F1 race deal – mayor
Jun.19 (GMM) It is “practically certain” that Italy will host a second grand prix in 2020. That is the word from Florence mayor Dario Nardella, who is optimistic about the local Ferrari-owned Mugello circuit being able to host the race one week after Monza. “A second grand prix this year is practically certain and would […]