Dec.10 (GMM) Fernando Alonso thinks Franco Colapinto will be back on the Formula 1 grid “sooner or later”. Alonso’s own driver management company, A14 Management, has successfully brought its top protege, the new Formula 2 champion Gabriel Bortoleto, to the F1 grid for 2025 with Audi-owned Sauber. But Alonso also has some ties with Colapinto, […]
Month: December 2024
Ferrari not ruling out Sainz return some day – boss
Dec.9 (GMM) Ferrari is not closing the door on a potential future return for Carlos Sainz. To make way for the arrival of Lewis Hamilton, team boss Frederic Vasseur told Sainz early this year that he needs to vacate his red cockpit at the end of the season. That moment came in Abu Dhabi on […]
Marko responds to Verstappen’s ‘not diplomatic’ FIA insult
Dec.9 (GMM) Max Verstappen may have added to his troubles with the FIA during the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi. It has now been confirmed that, for his community service penalty for using the ‘F-word’ in a recent FIA press conference, the quadruple world champion will meet with young Rwandan drivers later this week. […]
Alonso says 2024 Aston Martin injured his shoulder
Dec.9 (GMM) Fernando Alonso waited until after the chequered flag waved at the end of the final race of the season to reveal that he has been racing with an injury. The 43-year-old pulled down the top corner of his Aston Martin overalls in the Abu Dhabi paddock to show he was wearing pink athletic […]
Bottas admits Mercedes role ‘very likely’ for 2025
Dec.9 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas admits it is “very likely” he will replace Mick Schumacher as Mercedes’ main Formula 1 reserve driver in 2025. The Finn’s final race for Audi-owned Sauber fittingly ended with a crash – and a points count of zero for the season. “It’s good that this part of my career is over […]
Perez fate to be announced late this week – Marko
Dec.9 (GMM) Sergio Perez has admitted for the first time that he is not sure he will still be racing in Formula 1 next year. For weeks, amid ever-intensifying speculation that he will be ousted as Max Verstappen’s teammate, the Mexican has insisted he will remain at Red Bull as he has a valid contract. […]
Alonso thinks he deserves F1 qualifying award
Dec.8 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says 2024 was his “best season” in the discipline of Formula 1 qualifying. The two-time champion has contested an incredible 21 F1 seasons, but he smiled when told by DAZN that Max Verstappen recently complimented his talent. “Is Max saying that I also would have been champion a long time ago […]
Father says Sainz ‘earned’ better car than a Williams
Dec.8 (GMM) Carlos Sainz “has earned” a better seat than Williams in Formula 1, his father and namesake insists. Sunday will be 30-year-old Sainz junior’s 88th and final grand prix for Ferrari. His replacement for 2025 is seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who was heavily criticised on Saturday by his former Mercedes teammate Nico […]
Marko ‘can’t say’ when Perez news will emerge
Dec.8 (GMM) Red Bull’s top brass are staying quiet amid rampant and intensifying speculation about Sergio Perez. Almost every respected specialist outlet and journalist in the Formula 1 paddock now agrees – the energy drink brand has decided to oust the Mexican driver and replace him with Liam Lawson for 2025. The stumbling block is […]
Signing with Sauber was a ‘big mistake’ – Bottas
Dec.8 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas says that if he could rewind the past three years, he wouldn’t have signed on the dotted line at Sauber. With the exception of the axed Logan Sargeant, former 10-time grand prix winner Bottas, 35, is the only driver who has raced in 2024 without a single point to his name. […]
Parenting will not slow Verstappen down, says father
Dec.8 (GMM) Max Verstappen’s father does not believe becoming a father will slow the quadruple world champion down. “No, that’s bullsh*t,” Jos Verstappen told the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, after Max’s girlfriend Kelly Piquet revealed she is expecting. Max, 27, confirmed the news in Abu Dhabi, insisting it shouldn’t change his life too much as […]
Verstappen, Russell, healing broken relationship
Dec.8 (GMM) Max Verstappen and George Russell look to be healing their broken relationship. Their very public argument spilled over from Qatar to Abu Dhabi, even pulling in their respective Formula 1 team bosses Christian Horner and Toto Wolff. Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko, however, was not impressed. “If the drivers are fighting with each […]
Ricciardo could return to F1 – report
Dec.8 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo does not look likely to remain ‘retired’ for long. The major German newspaper Bild is reporting that the new Cadillac F1 team for 2026, to be headed by former Marussia boss Graeme Lowdon, is interested in the former Red Bull driver. “The Australian is the big favourite for a cockpit at […]
Williams presses Alpine for Colapinto decision
Dec.8 (GMM) Alpine only has a few more days to snap up the services of Franco Colapinto for 2025. A wild rumour in the Abu Dhabi paddock is that Alpine decided to oust Esteban Ocon early in order to ‘test’ his 2025 replacement Jack Doohan before next season. The speculation suggests team advisor Flavio Briatore […]
Bearman hits out at ‘young driver’ F1 test rules
Dec.7 (GMM) Oliver Bearman has hit out at the rules forbidding him from taking part in FP1 and next week’s post-season test in Abu Dhabi. Originally, Ferrari’s plan was to run the 19-year-old Briton in FP1 in Abu Dhabi – but the Maranello team ultimately ran Charles Leclerc’s brother Arthur. That’s because, given that Bearman […]
Abu Dhabi finale absence was ‘team’s decision’ – Ocon
Dec.7 (GMM) Esteban Ocon claims it was “the team’s decision” to prematurely part ways ahead of the 2024 season finale in Abu Dhabi. Alpine had framed the move, in which Jack Doohan was put in Ocon’s car this weekend, as a negotiated deal to allow the French driver to test for Haas at the same […]
F1 should ‘find a way’ to protect iconic races – Sainz
Dec.7 (GMM) F1 should help circuits like Zandvoort “find a way” to remain in the sport, according to Carlos Sainz. Hot on the heels of the news that 2026 will mark the final Dutch GP for financial reasons, Formula 1 announced a new annual contract with Shanghai’s Chinese GP through 2030. It’s just the latest […]
Lawson, Hadjar waiting for Perez’s ‘decision’
Dec.7 (GMM) With every hour that passes in Abu Dhabi, the situation with Sergio Perez seems to become clearer and clearer. A growing number of authoritative sources, now including the Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf, believe Red Bull has definitely decided to part ways with the Mexican driver after Sunday’s Abu Dhabi GP. It is believed […]
Russell’s Verstappen spat could be political
Dec.7 (GMM) The spotlight is shining ever more brightly on George Russell in the wake of his public spat with Max Verstappen. The saga, in which the Mercedes driver furiously accused Verstappen of threatening him with “violence” and a crash in Qatar over a qualifying penalty, has now completely pulled in their respective F1 team […]
Female driver slams Hamilton over F1 ‘diversity’
Dec.6 (GMM) Sophia Florsch, a female open wheeler driver, has hit out at seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton. Recently, the 24-year-old German, who competes against male competitors in the FIA Formula 3 series, hit out at Formula 1 for “pinkwashing” via the all-female F1 Academy series. She slammed the fact that the inaugural F1 […]