Mar.9 (GMM) Melbourne will not be following Bahrain’s lead by excluding spectators from its 2020 grand prix. Just days before the season kicks off in Australia, serious questions about the viability of the entire world championship remain. China has been postponed, Bahrain has announced that round two next weekend will be held without spectators, and […]
Category: Recent stories
Raikkonen not worried about coronavirus
Mar.6 (GMM) Not every personality in Formula 1 is overly worried about the coronavirus. “At the moment I have a plane to catch to Australia on Saturday and I have a tremendous desire to catch it,” McLaren driver Carlos Sainz said on Thursday. Actually, the global situation with the infectious virus and disease is not […]
Ferrari settlement ‘political suicide’ by FIA – Marko
Mar.6 (GMM) Political “war” has broken out in Formula 1, according to the Italian media. “With a planned attack on Wednesday morning at 9am, Formula 1 was thrown into war,” said Corriere della Sera. It started with the FIA announcing that a confidential settlement had been reached with Ferrari, following an investigation into the team’s […]
Passing to be even harder in 2020 – Ricciardo
Mar.6 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo thinks the difficulty to chase and overtake rival cars has become “even worse” with the faster 2020 cars. The rules are changing fundamentally for 2021, with a car concept specifically designed to make it easier for the drivers to battle one another. But Ricciardo thinks the rules stability between 2019 and […]
Racing Point approach ‘wouldn’t work’ for Williams
Mar.6 (GMM) Claire Williams says Racing Point’s approach to the 2020 season “wouldn’t have worked” for the Grove-based Formula 1 team she leads. Racing Point, now owned by billionaire Lawrence Stroll, caused a major stir in the paddock recently by revealing the car now known as the ‘pink Mercedes’. Williams said: “I would never criticise […]
Sainz reveals McLaren contract talks
Mar.6 (GMM) Carlos Sainz has revealed he is already in talks with McLaren about a new contract. The Spaniard’s name has actually been linked with a move to Ferrari for 2021, to be paired with Charles Leclerc. But Sainz, 25, said he’s not paying much attention to the rumours. “For me, with all due respect, […]
Kvyat wants to be Verstappen’s teammate
Mar.6 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat says he wants to return to Red Bull in order to take on Max Verstappen. The Russian’s first stint at the senior team some years ago almost ended his career, but he says he actually performed better than many think. “I have had some very strong teammates,” said the 25-year-old, who […]
Zandvoort not panicked about coronavirus
Mar.6 (GMM) Race boss Jan Lammers thinks the coronavirus situation should not endanger Zandvoort’s return to Formula 1 in May. With China already postponed, and doubts still remaining about the flyaway races in Australia, Bahrain and Vietnam, many have been saying the Dutch GP could in fact be the first event that actually goes ahead […]
Mercedes ‘not unbeatable’ – Raikkonen
Mar.5 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen says his former team Ferrari should not be written off so easily in 2020. Although a race is yet to be run, most observers – Ferrari included – agree that the Maranello team’s 2020 car was off the pace in winter testing. Some assume that means Mercedes will walk to a […]
Renault not third fastest team – Ricciardo
Mar.5 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo is not sure his Renault car is capable of being on the podium in Australia. However, the Australian actually set the third fastest time overall of the six days of pre-season testing in Barcelona. “We are definitely not as fast as Mercedes,” the 30-year-old, who is heading into a decisive second […]
No special tyres for banked Zandvoort corners
Mar.5 (GMM) Pirelli has decided not to take special tyres to the new Dutch GP at refurbished Zandvoort this year. In winter testing, F1’s official tyre supplier tested some unmarked new front tyres that were designed to more safely tackle the layout’s new steeply banked corners. “I don’t want to hear about ‘panic’,” Pirelli boss […]
Marko tips Verstappen to take on Hamilton in 2020
Mar.5 (GMM) Red Bull-Honda is sounding very bullish about its chances of taking on Mercedes in 2020. Max Verstappen is giving very little away, but it is telling that he has had no complaints about the team’s new car. “The RB16 is not a completely different car,” the Dutchman told Ziggo Sport. “Overall the balance […]
Opening races of 2020 in serious doubt
Mar.5 (GMM) The coronavirus crisis is continuing to cast a shadow over the start of the 2020 season. In Melbourne, preparations are in full swing for the season opener next weekend, with the first team staff understood to already be flying into Australia. But the government is said to be considering severe restrictions on those […]
F1 should follow the lead of Formula E – Hamilton
Mar.5 (GMM) Formula 1 should follow in the wheel tracks of the all-electric single seater series Formula E, according to six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. The British driver was speaking as Mercedes’ F1 team announced that it intends to be carbon-neutral by the end of 2020. His comments come as many regard F1 as being […]
FIA behaviour a ‘real scandal’ – Marko
Mar.5 (GMM) Seven Formula 1 teams are threatening legal action over the secret “settlement” agreed between Ferrari and the FIA over the Italian team’s 2019 engine. It was already known that the non-Ferrari powered teams are furious about the lack of transparency and real penalty, but all seven of those outfits memorialised their rage by […]
Verstappen not ‘real me’ in Netflix series
Mar.4 (GMM) Max Verstappen has hit out at the way he is portrayed in the Netflix series Drive to Survive. With unprecedented access in the paddock and the team garages, the Netflix crew has put together a popular series whose second season has just been released. But not everyone is a fan. “I don’t think […]
Bad Williams car stopped F1 race career – Kubica
Mar.4 (GMM) Robert Kubica thinks he would still be racing in Formula 1 if he had enjoyed a better car for his return to the grid last year. Instead, the Pole is now Alfa Romeo’s new reserve driver, and he will combine that 2020 role with a race seat in the German touring car series […]
Wolff wants FIA to reveal Ferrari engine details
Mar.4 (GMM) A letter calling on the FIA to clarify the saga about the legality of Ferrari’s 2019 engine is doing the rounds. According to Auto Bild, the author of the letter is Mercedes boss Toto Wolff. The development follows the FIA’s controversial announcement that a secret “settlement” with Ferrari had been reached following a […]
Verstappen worried about Zandvoort ‘PR overload’
Mar.4 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he is concerned that his first home grand prix at Zandvoort this year will be stressful. He told Germany’s RTL that he saw first-hand the strain that former teammate Daniel Ricciardo is under at his own home race in Australia, calling it “PR overload”. “I saw it every time we […]
‘Happy’ Leclerc upbeat about Ferrari prospects
Mar.4 (GMM) Charles Leclerc is remaining upbeat, even after his boss Mattia Binotto admitted the 2020 Ferrari will not be an early winner this season. Expert analyses say the new red car may be as much as six tenths off the pace, and Binotto has even suggested Ferrari may switch its focus to 2021 quite […]