Oct.21 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel will have insisted upon equal treatment by Aston Martin before signing with his 2021 team. That is the view of former F1 driver Nick Heidfeld, after Vettel’s former boss Dr Helmut Marko expressed concerns this week. “When you hear that all the updates already go to Stroll junior and only when […]
Month: October 2020
GP boss says Melbourne keeping first 2021 race
Oct.21 (GMM) Australian GP boss Andrew Westacott has hit back at suggestions that Melbourne will not kick off the 2021 season. A leaked 2021 calendar lists Bahrain as the new opening race on next year’s schedule, presumably because Melbourne remains in a strict covid-19 lockdown with major sporting events not taking place. “The Australian Grand […]
Politician slams Bottas for ‘moral posing’
Oct.21 (GMM) A Finnish member of parliament has accused Valtteri Bottas of “moral posing”. This week on Twitter, Bottas – whose girlfriend is a professional cyclist – hit out at the discrepancies in pay between male and female athletes. “It’s not about the money, but about the equality. Don’t men and women work equally hard […]
Haas to announce two new 2021 drivers in Portugal
Oct.21 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen and Romain Grosjean have now been told they will not be re-signed by Haas for the 2021 season. Citing ‘a number of sources’, Ekstra Bladet newspaper claims the news should be announced ahead of this weekend’s race in Portimao. The small American team did not comment. But it is believed Haas […]
Red Bull can build F1’s best chassis again – Marko
Oct.21 (GMM) Red Bull can recover its status as maker of the very best chassis in Formula 1. That is the claim of top team official Dr Helmut Marko, as he insists that the energy drink owned team has identified the flaws of the current car. “At the Nurburgring we were closer to Mercedes than […]
Ferrari cannot catch up in 2021 – Resta
Oct.21 (GMM) Simone Resta does not think Ferrari will be able to recover the gap to the front of the Formula 1 field in 2021. Team boss Mattia Binotto has revealed that the struggling Maranello team is working on a new engine, as the legality saga of 2019 has resulted in a big horsepower drop […]
Zandvoort not confirming leaked 2021 calendar
Oct.20 (GMM) The promoter of the Dutch GP has played down reports suggesting Zandvoort has been assigned a firm date on the Formula 1 calendar for 2021. The venue’s highly anticipated return to the sport was a victim of the corona crisis, but now specialist publications are claiming the Zandvoort race will take place on […]
F1 exit ‘99.9pc likely’ for Magnussen – insider
Oct.20 (GMM) Another F1 insider has chimed in to consider Kevin Magnussen’s next move. On Monday, former McLaren communications director Matt Bishop told us that he thought the Danish driver would complete a “brilliant lineup” alongside Max Verstappen at Red Bull. Magnussen, 28, appears likely to be ousted at Haas for 2021, with the small […]
Tsunoda on track for 2021 Alpha Tauri seat – Marko
Oct.20 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has confirmed that Yuki Tsunoda is on course to make his Formula 1 debut in 2021. It is an open secret that the 20-year-old Japanese, a F2 frontrunner promoted by both Honda and Red Bull, is a leading candidate to move onto the grid next year with Alpha Tauri. He […]
Haas to assess Ferrari engine situation in 2021
Oct.20 (GMM) Haas will assess whether to remain Ferrari-powered during the course of the 2021 season, team boss Gunther Steiner has admitted. As Ferrari struggles with its underpowered 2020 engine, some have suggested it is the perfect opportunity for Renault to replace departing customer McLaren by making an approach to Haas. But Steiner says Haas […]
Kubica needs ‘time’ to make 2021 decision
Oct.20 (GMM) Robert Kubica says he is not sure what his next move in the motor racing world will be. The Pole made a sensational return to Formula 1 after eight years of serious injury for 2019, but lost his Williams seat at the end of the season. For 2020, he took on a role […]
Marko hopes Aston Martin treats Vettel fairly
Oct.20 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says he hopes Aston Martin treats Sebastian Vettel fairly in 2021. Vettel entered F1 as one of Marko’s Red Bull juniors and went on to win four world championships, but his subsequent Ferrari career is now ending in tatters. “He makes an unusual number of mistakes time and time again,” […]
F1 insider thinks Red Bull should consider Magnussen
Oct.19 (GMM) A former F1 insider says Kevin Magnussen would be a “brilliant” candidate to become Max Verstappen’s next teammate at Red Bull. Dr Helmut Marko has named Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez as the only real contenders should Alex Albon not maintain the performance necessary to stay in 2021. But Matt Bishop, the former […]
Leclerc’s brother not rushing on road to F1
Oct.19 (GMM) Charles Leclerc’s brother says he is not yet dreaming about racing in Formula 1. Three years younger than his brother Charles, who races for Ferrari, 20-year-old Arthur Leclerc is currently a frontrunner in the Formula Regional European F3 championship. “I’ve always wanted to be a driver,” Leclerc told Corriere della Sera. “I once […]
No negotiations with Hulkenberg yet – Steiner
Oct.19 (GMM) Gunther Steiner says he is not actively negotiating with Nico Hulkenberg about a Haas seat for 2021. The revelation follows rumours last week that the small American team is shaping up to run the heavily-backed Russian Nikita Mazepin alongside a Ferrari junior driver next year. “I haven’t spoken to Nico in the last […]
Honda exit ‘very dangerous’ for F1 – Horner
Oct.19 (GMM) Honda’s withdrawal from Formula 1 has put the sport in a “very dangerous situation”, according to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner. Michael Schmidt, the correspondent for Auto Motor und Sport, says the energy drink team is threatening to pull out of F1 after 2021 if the FIA does not agree to freeze […]
Portugal reducing spectator numbers for F1 race
Oct.19 (GMM) Portimao is having to reduce the number of spectators allowed into the circuit this weekend. Lusa, Portugal’s largest news agency, quoted circuit director Paulo Pinheiro as saying that while 46,000 tickets for the F1 race went on sale, many fans are unlikely to actually attend due to the latest coronavirus developments. “We are […]
Vettel should retire and be F1 ambassador – Stewart
Oct.19 (GMM) Sir Jackie Stewart says he will be “happy” once Sebastian Vettel decides to hang up his helmet. Quadruple world champion Vettel has admitted that if he hadn’t landed the Aston Martin seat for 2021, he would have quit. “If he wants to continue racing, it’s only because he loves the sport so much,” […]
Racing Point says McLaren, Renault also ‘copied’ Mercedes
Oct.19 (GMM) Racing Point is not the only team that ‘copies’ the concepts of their dominant rival Mercedes. That is the claim of Andy Green, Racing Point’s technical boss. He thinks the sport’s moves to clamp down on car copying are going too far, even though Racing Point agreed in principle with the new measures. […]
Journalist backtracks over Ferrari conflict claims
Oct.19 (GMM) A respected Italian journalist has backtracked after claiming that top members of Ferrari’s management team are at war. Alberto Sabbatini, editor in chief at Autosprint, had reported rumours of “friction” between team boss Mattia Binotto and designer Simone Resta. But he now tells f1sport.it: “Resta has no quarrel with Binotto. This has been […]