Jan.2 (GMM) Fernando Alonso is at the top of Mercedes’ list, should Lewis Hamilton not stay with the dominant German team beyond this year. That is the admission of team boss Toto Wolff, in comments that might be interpreted as a ‘hurry up’ to F1’s new reigning world champion. Briton Hamilton’s Mercedes deal runs out […]
Category: Recent stories
Lotus could tweak team name for 2015 – report
Jan.2 (GMM) Lotus may be in no danger of dropping out of formula one. On an updated official entry list for the 2015 season, the Enstone team was listed recently with a “subject to confirmation” asterisk alongside its name. It sparked fears Lotus, whose Gerard Lopez led the angry complaints of midfield teams including Force […]
Williams revival surprised team champion Villeneuve
Jan.2 (GMM) The meteoric return to form of his old title-winning team Williams last year surprised 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. In 2013, amid the Grove team’s slump, the French Canadian told the Portuguese language magazine Revista Warmup that “When a team is reduced to hiring pay-drivers, it’s over”. At the time, he was referring […]
Ferrari bench better than Caterham seat – Vergne
Jan.1 (GMM) Jean-Eric Vergne insists his new Ferrari test role is better than a race seat at struggling backmarker Caterham. The 24-year-old Frenchman was dropped by Red Bull after contesting the last three seasons for the energy drink company’s second F1 team Toro Rosso. Ferrari has signed him for 2015 to be primarily a simulator […]
Button marks new year with wedding
Jan.1 (GMM) Jenson Button has rung in the new year by announcing he is now a married man. “Happy New Year from Mr and Mrs Button!” he declared to his almost 2 million followers on Twitter. British newspaper the Daily Mail, publishing paparazzi wedding photos of the 2009 world champion and his long-time girlfriend, Japanese […]
Marciello is new Sauber reserve
Jan.1 (GMM) Raffaele Marciello is Sauber’s new test and reserve driver for 2015. The 20-year-old Swiss-born Italian driver is a leading and long-time member of Ferrari’s driver academy. Ferrari is Swiss team Sauber’s engine supplier. “Apart from his formula one responsibilities,” the Maranello based team announced, “the Italian youngster, born in 1994, will continue to […]
Montagny fails Formula E drugs test
Jan.1 (GMM) Former F1 driver Franck Montagny failed a drugs test at a recent Formula E race, the French daily L’Equipe reported on Thursday. The 36-year-old, a former Renault and Jordan test driver who raced seven times for Super Aguri in 2006, drove for the Andretti team in the new Formula E series this year […]
Family says Bianchi still unconscious
Dec.31 (GMM) Jules Bianchi is still unconscious, his family has revealed in a statement. The French driver lost control of his Marussia during early October’s rainy Japanese grand prix and struck a trackside recovery vehicle. “Jules’ neurological status remains unchanged,” his family announced in an end-of-year medical update. “He is unconscious but able to breathe […]
Marussia still owes Timo Glock $1m – source
Dec.31 (GMM) The collapsing F1 backmarker Marussia still owes a whopping $1 million to its former driver Timo Glock. The debt was discovered by the F1 business and Formula Money journalist Christian Sylt in the team’s administration documents. It shows that German driver Glock, who raced for Marussia and its former guise Virgin between 2010 […]
2014 even worse than ‘nutcase’ 2012 – Grosjean
Dec.31 (GMM) Romain Grosjean says this year was even more difficult than the 2012 season, when he was branded F1’s ‘first lap nutcase’ and had to serve a race ban. The French driver, who will stay at Lotus next year for a fourth consecutive campaign, scored a mere handful of points in 2014 as the […]
Schu ‘cries when he hears family’ – report
Dec.31 (GMM) Michael Schumacher often cries when he hears the voices of his family members, according to a report in the Italian magazine Autosprint. This week, the F1 legend’s manager and doctor hit back at claims by former driver Philippe Streiff, who declared that while Schumacher is unable to speak, he is “starting to recognise […]
Verstappen boss denies F1 cars too easy to drive
Dec.31 (GMM) Franz Tost has hit back at claims today’s F1 cars are too easy to drive. In 2015, the Toro Rosso chief will be working with the sport’s controversial new driver Max Verstappen, who at 17 is easily the youngest rookie in the sport’s history. 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has denounced the young […]
Austrian broadcaster ORF rethinks F1 deal
Dec.31 (GMM) Another German-language F1 broadcaster is rethinking its commitment to the sport. Earlier this month, Germany’s RTL blamed F1’s “incomprehensible rules” and “counterproductive external representations” for a significant ratings decline this year. And now, the Austrian broadcaster ORF is also rethinking its formula one commitment, according to the Austrian news agency APA. “My position […]
McLaren-Honda joins call for engine unfreeze
Dec.31 (GMM) Honda has finally declared its position on the controversial ‘engine freeze’ in F1. As Mercedes utterly dominated the first season of the radical new turbo V6 era this year, rivals Ferrari and Renault-powered Red Bull made clear their desire to ease the tight limits on in-season engine development. Joining the three engine makers […]
Schu still a ‘sensitive issue’ at ski crash site – report
Dec.30 (GMM) Exactly a year after Michael Schumacher’s skiing accident, the Meribel resort director wants to move on. As the world looks back to 29 December 2013, when the most successful driver in grand prix history famously fell and struck his head on a snow-covered rock, a reporter for the major German newspaper Bild-Zeitung returned […]
Vettel, Alonso right to leave F1 teams – Villeneuve
Dec.30 (GMM) Former champions Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso were right to leave their respective teams ahead of 2015. That is the view of the outspoken 1997 title winner turned pundit Jacques Villeneuve. “Both are in a better situation now that they have gone,” said the French Canadian, referring to Vettel’s move to replace Alonso […]
Ferrari works on F1 engine with Austrian company – report
Dec.30 (GMM) Ferrari is pushing ahead with improving its turbo V6 engine and car after a faltering start to the new era in F1. Of the sport’s three engine makers in 2014, the fabled Maranello marque was the only one not to win a single grand prix. Ferrari, the works Renault team Red Bull and […]
Hamilton wins European sportsman award
Dec.29 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has taken home yet another plaudit after winning his second drivers’ title in 2014. A coveted award in Europe is the Polish press agency’s Sportsman of the Year, in which 18 similar sports news services cast their votes. In 2014, it is Mercedes driver and Briton Hamilton who secured the prize […]
Korea removed from latest 2015 calendar
Dec.29 (GMM) Korea has been removed from the latest 2015 calendar issued by F1’s governing body. Insiders were initially stunned early in December when next year’s schedule featured an unprecedented 21 grand prix dates and the return of a race in unpopular South Korea. Korean organisers played down the inclusion and even Bernie Ecclestone admitted […]
‘Worst year’ for F1 entrepreneur Fernandes
Dec.29 (GMM) Tony Fernandes’ already bad 2014 turned black at the weekend. This year, the Malaysian entrepreneur sold his ailing backmarker F1 team Caterham, his London football club Queens Park Rangers has disappointed, and now a flight operated by his airline AirAsia has gone missing en route to Singapore. The flight had 155 passengers and […]