Feb.20 (GMM) McLaren has had a positive start to its 2019 campaign. While Ferrari impressed with its early test form in Barcelona, it was McLaren’s new blue and orange 2019 car in second on the timesheets on both Monday and Tuesday. “It is an improvement from last year,” rookie driver Lando Norris confirmed. “I wasn’t […]
Category: Recent stories
F1 opens tender for 2021 standard gearbox
Feb.20 (GMM) F1 has taken a step towards mandating standard gearboxes from 2021. Planned to be part of Liberty Media’s vision for the sport beyond the current Concorde Agreement, the standard gearbox idea has been put to tender by the governing FIA. The FIA invited interested gearbox manufacturers to submit their proposals before March 15. […]
Indycar to use Halo alternative in 2019
Feb.20 (GMM) Indycar has opted against using one of the cockpit-protection layouts developed in formula one. Instead, the series has announced the introduction of what it calls Advanced Frontal Protection. AFP will be mandatory from the Indy 500 in May and beyond. It is a titanium device made by Dallara which simply stands 3 inches […]
Renault ‘good option’ for reserve role – Sirotkin
Feb.20 (GMM) Sergey Sirotkin has admitted Renault would be a “good option” for a F1 reserve role in 2019. The Russian driver lost his seat at Williams at the end of last year, but while racing in Le Mans sports cars in 2019 he hopes to also keep a toe in the F1 water. “I […]
UK factory closure won’t affect Honda F1
Feb.20 (GMM) Honda says its F1 operations will be unaffected by a major factory closure in the UK. The engines used by Red Bull and Toro Rosso are developed at Sakura (Japan), but Honda has a UK headquarters for its F1 operation in Milton Keynes. The Japanese manufacturer announced this week that it is closing […]
Pirelli looking for 2021 F1 test car
Feb.20 (GMM) Pirelli is on the lookout for a F1 test car. The Italian company has secured the contract to remain in F1 beyond 2021, when the rim profile will go from 13 to 18 inches. “One of the biggest problems at the moment is to find a suitable test car,” Pirelli’s Mario Isola admitted […]
Grosjean hits out at new tyre blanket rule
Feb.20 (GMM) Romain Grosjean has criticised a change to the tyre rules for 2019. Pirelli says teams may no longer run temperatures of more than 80 degrees in the heating blankets for the rear tyres. It is believed the change caused drivers to have grip problems when they exited the pits in Barcelona. “I’m going […]
Alonso ‘may’ attend Barcelona test – McLaren
Feb.20 (GMM) McLaren says Fernando Alonso will “maybe” be trackside at the Barcelona test next week. Earlier, there was speculation the now retired-from-F1 Spaniard could actually test for the Woking team this winter. Spanish reports, however, said those claims were wide of the mark, even if Alonso will be in the city for the Mobile […]
Rosberg, Button to be TV pundits in 2019
Feb.20 (GMM) Two former world champions will regularly be in the F1 paddock in 2019. Nico Rosberg has been signed up to attend 10 grands prix for the German broadcaster RTL — up two races compared to last year. “To keep the connection to formula one means a lot to me,” said the 2016 title […]
Ferrari advantage ‘at least’ 5 tenths – Tost
Feb.20 (GMM) Mere days into 2019 winter testing, it appears that Ferrari has a clear advantage. With Sebastian Vettel and Charles Leclerc smilingly topping the times, the most obvious difference between their red car and the others is the front wing. Toto Wolff, the Mercedes boss, admits that visibly, the wing produces less downforce. “Somehow […]
Wednesday testing for Williams ‘a miracle’
Feb.20 (GMM) All eyes are on the Williams garage ahead of the third day of testing in Barcelona. The struggling British team missed the first two days of 2019 running, amid rumours of design flaws and the potential departure of technical boss Paddy Lowe. One Williams mechanic said it would be “a miracle” if the […]
2019 Williams car not yet in Barcelona
Feb.19 (GMM) Williams’ 2019 car is not yet in Barcelona. Dead last in 2018, hopes were high that the once-great British team would begin its recovery this year. But a filming day scheduled for last Saturday was cancelled, and then Williams announced it would not be joining the other nine teams for the start of […]
Drivers still unsure 2019 rule changes will work
Feb.19 (GMM) F1 drivers remain unconvinced the aerodynamic regulations for 2019 will make overtaking any easier. The biggest change for this year is the front wing, with the package of changes designed by the FIA and Liberty Media to promote wheel-to-wheel racing. When asked about the wing, Sebastian Vettel said in Barcelona: “It’s pretty ugly. […]
Binotto ‘number 1’ comments surprised Wolff
Feb.19 (GMM) Toto Wolff has admitted he was surprised to hear Ferrari reassure Sebastian Vettel about his ‘number 1’ status. After a winter of speculation that Charles Leclerc could immediately be gunning for the title in 2019, new boss Mattia Binotto said it will in fact still be Vettel with “priority”. “Mattia has a daunting […]
Binotto as boss ‘no revolution’ – Vettel
Feb.19 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel insists there has been no “revolution” at Ferrari over the winter. On paper, it has been all change at Maranello, with Mattia Binotto installed as the new boss and Charles Leclerc in the sister car. But after Vettel impressed the Barcelona paddock with his laptime on Monday, the German said: “From […]
Honda packaging ‘like a Swiss watch’ – Horner
Feb.19 (GMM) Christian Horner continues to have nothing but praise for Red Bull’s new works engine partner. For others in the pitlane, a big question-mark hangs over the top-three team after switching from customer Renault to works Honda power for 2019. But Horner, team boss, says Honda is helping Red Bull to “reduce the gap […]
Bottas observes ‘really shiny’ Pirelli tyres
Feb.19 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas says Pirelli’s 2019 tyres feel similar to their predecessors. For this year, the colour identification of the tyres has changed, with only ‘hard’, ‘medium’ and ‘hard’ tyres to be marked at each grand prix in the interest of simplicity. Also the compounds have been tweaked. But the difference that caught the […]
Sauber name still involved in F1 – Peter Sauber
Feb.19 (GMM) Peter Sauber has admitted that the departure of his surname from formula one “hurts”. The 75-year-old Swiss, no longer involved with the Hinwil based team he founded, was on hand in Barcelona as the new ‘Alfa Romeo’ made its test debut. “Of course it hurts that the Sauber name disappears after such a […]
Ferrari ‘extremely fast’ already – Hulkenberg
Feb.19 (GMM) Ferrari’s new matte-liveried car for 2019 looks “extremely fast”. That was not just the observation of Renault driver Nico Hulkenberg, but almost everyone else as winter testing kicked off in Barcelona. “It looks like Sebastian (Vettel) had a good winter,” smiled Christian Horner, boss of the Red Bull team. One journalist even asked […]
Brexit would give Ferrari an advantage – Wolff
Feb.19 (GMM) Ferrari could be the big beneficiary if Britain’s ‘no deal’ exit from the European Union occurs at the end of next month. That is the warning of Toto Wolff, boss of F1’s leading British-based team Mercedes. British politics is currently in disarray, with time running out for a so-called ‘Brexit’ deal to be […]