Sep.27 (GMM) Hermann Tilke has become a third high-profile expected attendee who is in fact not present at the Russian GP this weekend. We reported earlier that Russian president Vladimir Putin and Bernie Ecclestone – both regular attendees at the event in Sochi – are not present in 2020. Another notable absentee is Will Buxton, […]
Month: September 2020
Wolff not ruling out Hamilton-Red Bull deal
Sep.27 (GMM) Toto Wolff is refusing to rule out a scenario in which Lewis Hamilton decides to leave Mercedes at the end of the season. Eddie Jordan, who is also predicting that Ineos will buy the works Mercedes team, claimed last week that Hamilton should team up with Max Verstappen at Red Bull. “I wondered […]
Raikkonen denies extending Alfa Romeo contract
Sep.27 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen has denied reports that he has extended his stay at Alfa Romeo into 2021. Roger Benoit, a veteran and highly respected correspondent for the Swiss newspaper Blick, claims the Finn informed team boss Frederic Vasseur of his decision to stay prior to September 15. Speculation suggests Raikkonen, 40, had a one-sided […]
2021 ‘negotiations’ to begin soon – Kvyat
Sep.26 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat says he is yet to discuss with his Red Bull bosses his place at Alpha Tauri for the 2021 season. It is widely expected that Red Bull will keep Monza winner Pierre Gasly at the junior team, but potentially replace the comparatively struggling Kvyat with Honda-backed rookie Yuki Tsunoda. Russian Kvyat, […]
Better teammates could have pushed Hamilton – Alonso
Sep.26 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has benefitted from not having better teammates in past seasons, according to Fernando Alonso. This weekend, Mercedes’ Hamilton – who is also cruising towards an equal-record setting seventh title this season – is expected to match Michael Schumacher’s all-time race win tally of 91. Schumacher himself is still recovering from brain […]
Putin, Ecclestone not attending Russian GP
Sep.26 (GMM) Vladimir Putin is not planning to attend Sunday’s Russian GP. The controversial Russian president normally attends the event at Sochi’s Olympic Park. Recently, after it emerged that Liberty Media would no longer invite Bernie Ecclestone to grands prix, the former F1 supremo said: “They might want to try it in Russia. “I think […]
Marko says ‘goodbye’ to Verstappen’s title
Sep.26 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has said a reluctant “goodbye” to Red Bull’s 2020 world championship chances. The Austrian had hoped that his charge Max Verstappen would beat Sebastian Vettel’s record by becoming the youngest ever world champion this year. Instead, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton is on the cusp of matching Michael Schumacher’s all-time victory record […]
Binotto admits Ferrari vetoed Wolff as F1 CEO
Sep.26 (GMM) Stefano Domenicali will be a bulwark against “artificial” measures creeping into Formula 1. That is the view of Toto Wolff, who admits that he was another candidate to succeed Chase Carey as the sport’s new chief executive. “Everyone knows that I had preliminary discussions with Greg Maffei, the CEO of Liberty Media, but […]
F1 rejects Liberty’s reverse grid plans
Sep.26 (GMM) Liberty Media is facing serious opposition to its plans to revive a proposal for reverse-grid qualifying sprint races for the 2021 season. Mercedes vetoed the idea for 2020, but for 2021, a so-called ‘super majority’ of 28 of the 30 voting interests could wave the measure through. So far, Mercedes and also McLaren […]
Verstappen, Newey staying at Red Bull – boss
Sep.26 (GMM) There is no doubt that both Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey will still be at Red Bull in 2021. That was the claim of team boss Christian Horner at Sochi, as he fended off rumours that Red Bull could be about to lose two of its biggest assets. There have been rumours that […]
Alonso set to test Renault in 2020
Sep.26 (GMM) Fernando Alonso will get behind the wheel in the coming months as he prepares to return to Formula 1 next year. The Spaniard says that when he left the “boring” sport at the end of 2018, he always intended to potentially return for the all-new 2021 rules. However, the pandemic pushed the rules […]
Doubts emerge over Melbourne’s 2021 GP
Sep.25 (GMM) Big doubts have emerged about whether Melbourne will return to the F1 calendar in 2021. The city is currently in a highly controversial lockdown to eliminate cases of coronavirus. There were 14 new cases on Thursday. With the forthcoming AFL football grand final moved out of Melbourne for the first time ever, it […]
Briatore’s ex-wife says Schumacher ‘does not speak’
Sep.25 (GMM) Michael Schumacher cannot speak, according to Flavio Briatore’s former wife. Briatore, who was the F1 legend’s boss at Benetton, and Italian model and TV personality Elisabetta Gregoraci divorced in 2018. Gregoraci is currently taking part in the Italian version of Big Brother. When asked by a fellow housemate about the health condition of […]
Raikkonen quiet about next move in F1
Sep.25 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen is staying quiet about his next move in Formula 1. The Finn made waves earlier this week by publishing on social media a pair of humorous memes comparing himself and James Hunt with today’s top star, Lewis Hamilton. The memes upset some of Hamilton’s fans. “Formula 1 was a little different […]
Kvyat plays down covid concerns at Sochi
Sep.25 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat has played down concerns about the presence of spectators this weekend at Sochi. Sebastian Vettel has travelled to Russia contrary to the official advice of the German government, as the number of covid infections in the country has grown from under 5000 per day a month ago to almost 7000 today. […]
F1 ‘most boring’ category of racing – Alonso
Sep.25 (GMM) Fernando Alonso claims Formula 1 is “the most boring” category in the world of motorsport. The Spaniard has spent a two-year sabbatical racing at Le Mans, the Dakar Rally and the Indy 500, but has elected to return to F1 next year as Renault comes Alpine. The 39-year-old said in an interview earlier […]
Verstappen hopes Honda stays in F1
Sep.25 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he hopes Honda stays in Formula 1 beyond 2021. That is despite the fact that the Dutchman suffered two consecutive Honda-related problems at Monza and Mugello, and afterwards wrote off his championship hopes. “Of course that was not positive, but our relationship is still good,” said the Red Bull driver, […]
Domenicali ‘capable’ of running F1 – Vettel
Sep.25 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel says Stefano Domenicali is “more than capable” of becoming F1 supremo. With the F1 teams reportedly already informed, it is expected that news of the former Ferrari boss’s move to replace Chase Carey will be announced shortly. “If everything is confirmed it would be a wonderful thing for Italian sport,” said […]
F1 to ‘stop’ political activism – Hamilton
Sep.25 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton expects Formula 1 to try to stop him from repeating the kind of activism that he took onto the podium and official FIA press conference last time out at Mugello. “I did something that has never really happened in F1 and obviously they will stop it moving forwards,” said the six-time […]
F1 drivers wrote FIA letter after Mugello crash
Sep.25 (GMM) F1 drivers sent a letter to the governing body after the recent race at Mugello. It follows criticism by top drivers including Lewis Hamilton about the safety car re-start pileup, amid accusations Formula 1 is prioritising the show over safety. 12 drivers were reprimanded by the FIA for the crash, and the first […]