Feb.24 (GMM) A key official of the defunct French GP has poured cold water on suggestions the sport should return to the country with a race in Paris. Flavio Briatore, the powerful advisor to Renault’s Formula 1 team Alpine, triggered headlines last week by suggesting a race in the French capital would be “magnificent”. “Not […]
Month: February 2025
Verstappen will not skip race for child’s birth
Feb.24 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he will not be sitting out a single race even though his girlfriend Kelly is preparing to give birth to their first child together. The Dutch driver recently revealed that the baby – believed to be a girl – is due “not before the start of the season”. Reports indicate […]
Amid ‘ridiculous rule’, Sainz becomes GPDA director
Feb.24 (GMM) Carlos Sainz has become a new director of the Formula 1 drivers’ union – the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA). The appointment comes at an important moment for the GPDA, as intense negotiations take place behind the scenes to dilute the harshness of the FIA’s so-called ‘driver swearing ban’. Sainz, switching from Ferrari […]
Tsunoda aims to avoid Red Bull axe after 2025
Feb.24 (GMM) Yuki Tsunoda says he wants to remain “in the Red Bull family” beyond the 2025 season. Despite his pace, a calmer demeanour and four seasons of experience with the Faenza-based junior team, Red Bull still decided that it should be rookie Liam Lawson who should become Max Verstappen’s new teammate for 2025. In […]
Briatore rejects label of Jack Doohan ‘killer’
Feb.24 (GMM) Flavio Briatore is still not denying that Alpine could make a mid-season driver change in 2025. The flamboyant Italian’s actual role is a team advisor reporting to Renault CEO Luca de Meo – but the latter admitted at the launch of the team’s 2025 car: “Let’s be honest, Flavio is the boss.” Indeed, […]
Verstappen could boycott next F1 launch event
Feb.24 (GMM) Max Verstappen may boycott next year’s Formula 1 group season launch if it is once again held in the UK. Red Bull team boss Christian Horner and Verstappen were both booed by a significant portion of the 15,000 fans at the O2 arena recently. The FIA, whose mention during the presentation was also […]
F1 teams look ahead to two-part 2025 season
Feb.21 (GMM) 2025 may be the last year of the current regulations, but teams have marked a very important mid-season date in their diaries. McLaren, at the centre of flexible wing controversies last year, insist that the FIA’s new flexibility criteria for this season is not a “headache”. But from the first race, stricter flex […]
Colapinto among Alpine’s ‘most important assets’
Feb.21 (GMM) Franco Colapinto has instantly become one of Alpine’s “most important assets,” admits famous team advisor Flavio Briatore. At F1’s London launch, 2025 rookie Jack Doohan was bombarded with journalists’ questions about the longevity of his new race seat. That’s because newly-signed reserve Colapinto, on loan from Williams, is hotly tipped to replace the […]
Lawson has two jobs to do in 2025 – Marko
Feb.21 (GMM) Liam Lawson’s job in 2025 is two-pronged, according to Red Bull’s notoriously tough advisor and driver manager, Dr Helmut Marko. Lawson, starting his first full season in ’25 after part-time campaigns at the junior team in the past two years, replaces the struggling and axed Sergio Perez. Perez’s struggles cost Red Bull in […]
Mercedes denies deal with Ineos ‘close to splitting’
Feb.20 (GMM) Mercedes’ Formula 1 team has denied it could be about to lose its one-third owner and major sponsor Ineos. The Telegraph newspaper reports that Toto Wolff was at odds with fellow one-third team owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe, founder and CEO of the chemicals company, last year. Correspondent Tom Cary said they “came close […]
F1 ‘deserves’ a French GP ‘in Paris’ – Briatore
Feb.20 (GMM) Formula 1 should return to France – with a race in the capital city. That’s the view of Alpine’s flamboyant and famous advisor Flavio Briatore, just days after FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem rued France’s absence from the calendar since 2022. “It’s good to open up to new countries, but we mustn’t forget […]
Axed Sargeant suddenly quits motor racing
Feb.20 (GMM) After losing his race seat in Formula 1, Logan Sargeant seems to be stepping away from motor racing altogether. The 24-year-old American struggled to keep up with Alex Albon at Williams in both 2023 and 2024, and was ousted altogether by Franco Colapinto mid-last season. However, he had lined up an alternative drive […]
‘No intention’ to re-engage with Russell – Verstappen
Feb.20 (GMM) Max Verstappen is refusing to re-engage with a controversy that rounded out his 2024 championship campaign. Although the Dutchman won his fourth consecutive drivers’ title, he was subject to a blistering attack from Mercedes’ George Russell over an incident in Qatar GP qualifying. Russell re-opened the Qatar wound in the past few days, […]
Early rumours suggest new Ferrari ‘four tenths’ faster
Feb.20 (GMM) A “motivated” Lewis Hamilton really could win a record eighth world championship in 2025 – his first season at Ferrari at the age of 40. That’s the view of arch-rival Red Bull’s powerful advisor Dr Helmut Marko, as Hamilton and teammate Charles Leclerc got the all-new 2025 Ferrari up and running at Fiorano. […]
F1 should have more races, not less – Tost
Feb.19 (GMM) Former F1 team boss Franz Tost has lashed out at the growing consensus in the sport that the calendar has become far too inflated with its 24 grands prix. While the drivers travel in 5-star style, many believe the schedule has become unacceptably arduous for the bulk of F1’s personnel – like the […]
F1 to dilute FIA’s intense new ‘swearing ban’
Feb.19 (GMM) The FIA’s intensifying clampdown on driver swearing could be about to be diluted. Dubbed the sport’s new ‘swearing ban’, Max Verstappen said on Tuesday he will cope with the harsh new restrictions – which can now include race bans or docked championship points – by “not saying much” in 2025. “I didn’t say […]
Verstappen, Marko, play down $1bn Aston Martin rumours
Feb.19 (GMM) Max Verstappen and Dr Helmut Marko have played down speculation the quadruple world champion will leave Red Bull after this season. Recently, a British newspaper suggested Aston Martin is prepared to offer Verstappen, 27, a remuneration package that over a period of years could net him $1 billion. “That’s a lot of money,” […]
Felipe Massa hits out at Alonso’s ‘two faces’
Feb.19 (GMM) Fernando Alonso is a Formula 1 driver and person with “two faces,” according to his former teammate Felipe Massa. Now-retired Brazilian Massa told Relevo that he is “not giving up” in his legal pursuit against the sport to rectify the outcome of the crash-gate marred 2008 championship. In that year, prior to Alonso […]
Ocon much happier after Alpine-to-Haas move
Feb.19 (GMM) Esteban Ocon admits switching from Alpine to Haas has been a breath of fresh air. The Frenchman’s soured relationship with Alpine, formerly Renault, ended abruptly even before the season finale in Abu Dhabi late last year, when his successor Jack Doohan stepped into his cockpit. Even teammate Pierre Gasly, definitely not close friends […]
Colapinto pressure intensifying for Jack Doohan
Feb.19 (GMM) Jack Doohan on Tuesday insisted he is not feeling any extra pressure despite being barraged by questions about Franco Colapinto. With new Alpine reserve Colapinto’s sponsor Mercado Libre, a South American e-commerce site, revealed to be on the team’s 2025 livery, speculation is only intensifying that rookie Doohan’s career on the grid could […]