Jun.15 (GMM) FIA president Jean Todt made a visit to Maranello last Friday. That is the claim of the well-known Ferrari media insider Leo Turrini, writing on his Quotidiano blog. Before Todt was spotted enjoying the fabled Le Mans 24 hour race at the weekend, he travelled to Ferrari’s Italian headquarters, Turrini said. Tongue in […]
Category: Recent stories
Boullier safe after plane scare
Jun.15 (GMM) Eric Boullier had a scare on Sunday as he returned from a visit to the fabled Le Mans race. The McLaren boss was sharing a journey on a private plane with friend Zak Brown, a well-known F1 sponsorship figure, when the aircraft developed a fault. Brown, describing the incident as a “close call”, […]
Lauda agrees F1 should be more ‘risky’
Jun.15 (GMM) Niki Lauda has agreed with Kimi Raikkonen that F1 would benefit from a boost of danger. 2007 world champion and Ferrari driver Raikkonen was quoted last week as saying one thing that would improve the modern face of the sport is if F1 was “a little more dangerous”. “It (danger) is part of […]
McLaren ‘short nose’ passes crash test
Jun.15 (GMM) McLaren has put its major upgrade for the Austrian grand prix back on track. We reported last week that a much-needed aerodynamic package for the MP4-30 car was in doubt because the centrepiece – a Mercedes-like ‘short nose’ – had repeatedly failed the mandatory FIA crash tests. A spokesman had told us: “We […]
Berger slams decision to cancel F3 race
Jun.15 (GMM) F1 legend Gerhard Berger has criticised the decision to cancel a recent Formula 3 race at historic Monza. The decision was taken after a spate of terrifying wheel-to-wheel crashes, but Berger thinks it was the wrong message to what is “the best school” for rising driver talent. Until recently, former grand prix winner […]
Leimer heads to Austria for FIA check – report
Jun.15 (GMM) Fabio Leimer is heading to Austria this week hoping to fire up his Manor chances. The Swiss driver and 2013 GP2 champion was trackside in Canada with the backmarker team recently, in his new role as official reserve. And Blick, the Swiss newspaper whose F1 correspondent is the paddock veteran Roger Benoit, said […]
Missing practice hurts Grosjean ‘quite a lot’
Jun.12 (GMM) Romain Grosjean admitted recently that sitting out Friday practice sessions this year affects his preparation for races. After some early appearances in 2015, Lotus reserve Jolyon Palmer then sat out Friday practice in Monaco and Canada. But the reigning GP2 champion’s management announced on Wednesday that the 24-year-old Briton will be back in […]
Ricciardo ‘definitely’ staying at Red Bull – Marko
Jun.12 (GMM) Red Bull has ruled Daniel Ricciardo out of the running for a Ferrari seat in 2016. Already linked with the place currently occupied by Kimi Raikkonen, Australian Ricciardo fired the Ferrari rumours even more in Canada when he admitted his growing frustration with Red Bull. “For my career, I need to be aware […]
Button hopes drivers consulted over F1 future
Jun.12 (GMM) Jenson Button hopes drivers are consulted as formula one steps into a more exciting future. Acknowledging some of the problems with the rules and the current generation of cars, F1 intends to slash 5-6 seconds from average laptimes from 2017. 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen admitted that would be “nice”. “I’m sure something […]
Le Mans for ‘real men’ – Hulkenberg
Jun.12 (GMM) Le Mans is a circuit for “real men” of motor racing. That is the claim of Nico Hulkenberg, who has qualified a strong third overall for his debut in the fabled 24 hour race set to take place this weekend. “Driving here is fascinating,” the German, who is combining his part-time Porsche seat […]
Williams expects strong weekend in Austria
Jun.12 (GMM) Williams’ race drivers expect their resurgence from the Monaco slump to hit an even higher gear in Austria next weekend. The British team struggled notably on the twisty turns of Monaco, but then bounced back strongly in Canada as Valtteri Bottas scored his first podium of 2015. And now, Williams is working on […]
Marchionne tips Mercedes to ‘be reasonable’
Jun.12 (GMM) Sergio Marchionne has tipped Mercedes to be “reasonable” as the sport looks to tweak the engine freeze rules. In recent days, Red Bull chief Christian Horner has warned that unless the current restrictions on engine development are relaxed, the team’s partner Renault could quit the sport. But a lot will depend on Mercedes, […]
Manor could delay new car plans until 2016
Jun.12 (GMM) Manor is reportedly contemplating shelving its plans to introduce a new car in 2015. Earlier, having hurriedly modified the 2014 machine for the 2015 rule changes, the former Marussia outfit announced its intention to debut an all-new car after the summer break. But Speed Week now reports that, as the current car is […]
Raikkonen has three races to impress Ferrari
Jun.12 (GMM) July 31 is a key date in the diaries of Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen. According to Italy’s Corriere dello Sport, it is on that day that Ferrari’s ‘option’ to simply extend the Finnish driver’s current contract runs out. “I’m not worried about it at all. Time will tell,” Raikkonen said recently. But he […]
Renault plays down fifth engine penalties
Jun.12 (GMM) Renault has played down the impact of the ten-place grid penalties now being served by its F1 customers. The penalties are due to the sport’s long-life engine rules, this year limiting each driver to just four ‘power units’ for the entire 19-race calendar. With dire reliability trouble, the Renault-powered cars burned through their […]
Marchionne vows to help Monza save F1 race
Jun.12 (GMM) Sergio Marchionne has vowed to help Monza keep its fabled Italian grand prix. Although an important home race for Ferrari, it has however been said that the Maranello marque would not mind if Monza leaves the F1 calendar, as it would open the door for a race at its own Mugello circuit. But […]
Journalists say Horner should be F1 supremo
Jun.11 (GMM) Two authoritative F1 correspondents have identified Christian Horner as the ideal man to take charge of the sport’s future. Writing in the British newspaper The Times, Kevin Eason said F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone “must start to hand over — now.” The call comes amid a near-unprecedented round of introspection for the pinnacle of […]
‘Customer cars’ just big teams’ money grab – Fernley
Jun.11 (GMM) Bob Fernley has accused F1’s biggest teams of conspiring against the smaller outfits. On Friday in Montreal, a meeting convened by McLaren’s Ron Dennis was attended only by representatives of three other teams — fellow grandees Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. Even the strategy group members Williams and Force India were excluded, and […]
Marchionne knew closing gap to Mercedes not easy
Jun.11 (GMM) Sergio Marchionne says he was never under any illusion about the challenge faced by Ferrari in 2015. Sebastian Vettel’s breakthrough win wearing red came early this season, raising hopes the resurgent team might be ready to challenge Mercedes’ utter dominance. But five further races have now passed without a follow-up Ferrari victory, even […]
Red Bull to take engine penalties in Austria
Jun.11 (GMM) Red Bull looks set to start dead last on the grid for its home race in Austria next weekend. The embattled energy drink owned team has acknowledged that, after burning through unreliable Renault engines early this year, grid penalties for fitting unscheduled fifth units will inevitably strike. It was suggested that a good […]