Mar.5 (GMM) Renault’s 2019 engine could be up to 50 horse power better than its predecessor. That is the eye-opening claim of Cyril Abiteboul, the French works team’s boss. Renault has been steadily building up its team in recent years, and this year wants to close the gap to Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. “We […]
Category: Recent stories
Haas ‘even better’ than in 2018 – Grosjean
Mar.5 (GMM) Haas is staying quiet amid reports it is in the running to be ‘best of the rest’ in 2019. What is clear is that the midfield behind Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull is almost unprecedentedly close. Also clear is that the precise midfield pecking order is, in Kimi Raikkonen’s words, a “mystery”. Some […]
Assen refusing to give up on Dutch GP
Mar.5 (GMM) Assen is refusing to give up on hosting a future Dutch grand prix. That is despite the fact that even the Dutch sports council says Zandvoort is the only potential venue for a F1 race in the Netherlands. “Assen really does not stand a chance,” the council’s president Michael van Praag told Noordhollands […]
Leclerc will be close to number 1 Vettel – Alesi
Mar.5 (GMM) Another former F1 driver says he would bet on Ferrari in 2019. Jean Alesi, who drove for the Maranello team in the 90s, said the signs from the Barcelona tests were very positive. “We saw a competitive Ferrari from the first laps and that is worth gold,” the Frenchman told Radio Sportiva. “For […]
Ferrari ready to beat Mercedes – Frentzen
Mar.5 (GMM) Ferrari is ready to win the 2019 world championship. That is the claim of former F1 driver Heinz Harald Frentzen, who told Abendzeitung newspaper that Ferrari made a strong impression in Barcelona testing. “Mercedes will continue to be among the dominant teams,” said the German, who is now 51. “But currently I have […]
Raikkonen ‘always’ tweaks own seat
Mar.5 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen says he has “always” made his own tweaks to his seat. The Finn caused a stir on social media when it emerged that he got hands-on in the Alfa Romeo garage to make amendments with files and power-tools to his carbon seat. “That’s normal with me. I’ve been doing that for […]
Ferrari struggling with reliability – Surer
Mar.5 (GMM) Ferrari may be grappling with a real reliability issue ahead of the 2019 season. Last week, as he played down the Maranello team’s superiority, boss Mattia Binotto said of the 2019 car: “I would like to see it more reliable overall. “To win we will have to be the strongest and we are […]
Perez no longer planning Ferrari future
Mar.5 (GMM) Sergio Perez is looking ahead to a “major improvement” for his car in Melbourne. Racing Point – formerly Force India – had a particularly low-profile winter test season, with the car not notably fast and visibly similar to its predecessor. “We are not the fastest in the middle of the grid but not […]
Gasly says Red Bull pressure ‘part of the game’
Mar.5 (GMM) Pierre Gasly says his goal for 2019 is to develop as a formula one driver. With Daniel Ricciardo having surprised the team with his exit, Red Bull boss Christian Horner said the opportunity of a seat with the top team for Gasly may have come too soon. Asked if that puts the pressure […]
Red Bull undecided over F1 race contract beyond 2020
Mar.5 (GMM) Red Bull is not yet committing to staging more Austrian grands prix beyond 2020. The energy drink company, which also owns the Red Bull and Toro Rosso teams, has a contract with Liberty Media for a race at the Red Bull Ring until 2020. “It’s too early to make a statement,” Dr Helmut […]
Red Bull wants Verstappen to win title – Ricciardo
Mar.4 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo says he left Red Bull because he no longer felt like the number 1 driver. Red Bull boss Christian Horner said recently that Ricciardo is “running from a fight” with Max Verstappen by switching to Renault. But Ricciardo insists that his decision was more to do with Red Bull than his […]
Boss denies Ferrari clear 2019 favourite
Mar.4 (GMM) Mattia Binotto has denied that Ferrari is the clear favourite to win the 2019 title. Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi told Radio Sportivo: “For sure Mercedes will be very strong, but Ferrari seems stronger.” Crucially, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton also thinks Ferrari has a 5 tenths per lap lead heading into Australia. “It’s nice […]
Vettel not planning to retire yet
Mar.4 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel says he has no plans to retire. At the end of last year, the German was criticised for making mistakes that contributed to Ferrari not winning the world championship. And now, those same critics are saying Vettel could be challenged in 2019 by his new teammate Charles Leclerc. “Over the years […]
Red Bull has ‘competitive engine’ – Mateschitz
Mar.4 (GMM) Red Bull finally has a “competitive engine”. That is the view of team owner Dietrich Mateschitz, who made a rare visit to the Barcelona paddock last week. He was there to check out progress at Red Bull Racing, which has dropped its customer Renault engines and teamed up with a works collaboration with […]
2019 is ‘last chance’ for Kvyat – Marko
Mar.4 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says he is very happy with Red Bull’s full F1 driver lineup for 2019. Daniel Ricciardo has left for Renault, but still Marko is smiling after what he describes as the “best winter for us in the hybrid era”. Max Verstappen is now the clear number 1. “At the age […]
Kubica ’20pc ready’ for F1 race return
Mar.4 (GMM) Robert Kubica says he is only 20 per cent ready for his return to F1 in 2019. Having failed to get its new car ready on time for Barcelona testing, the Williams team’s rookie driver George Russell admitted: “I would be lying if I said that we are not the slowest team right […]
Mexico misses deadline for 2020 race
Mar.4 (GMM) Mexico’s place on the F1 calendar appears more and more endangered. We have already reported that government funds for the event in Mexico City beyond 2019 will be switched to the Maya Train project. And now, the race organisers have missed a Liberty Media-imposed deadline to host the race in 2020. “In my […]
F1 ‘pay TV’ trend is worrying – Hamilton
Mar.4 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton says it is a shame that F1 is steadily moving behind a ‘pay wall’. When the Mercedes driver won his first title in 2008, 6 million British viewers saw it. By 2018, for his fifth world championship, the number had dwindled to 2 million. “That sounds terrible,” Hamilton said when told […]
Did Mercedes make two different cars for 2019? – Perez
Mar.4 (GMM) Sergio Perez has floated a fascinating theory about Mercedes. In week two of the Barcelona test, Mercedes brought a ‘B’ car to the track. An engineer said “every aerodynamic surface” of the silver car has been changed. Some said it was a reaction to Mercedes’ realisation that it is lagging behind Ferrari by […]
Midfield pecking order ‘a mystery’ – Raikkonen
Mar.4 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen says the pecking order behind the top three teams is “a big mystery”. Some are predicting that Alfa Romeo is now ready to take on Renault to be the ‘best of the rest’ in 2019. “It’s unclear to us where we stand,” Finn Raikkonen, who has switched to the former Sauber […]