Mar.19 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has had contact with Ferrari, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff has admitted. Paddock rumours in Australia suggested that, as he conducts his own negotiations for a new contract beyond 2015, the British driver had been in touch with Ferrari. Wolff doesn’t deny it. “Sure, Lewis has had contact with Ferrari,” he […]
Alonso set for medical checks on Sunday
Mar.19 (GMM) Fernando Alonso will undergo medical tests conducted by the FIA on Sunday. The broadcaster Sky Italia said the Spaniard needs the governing body’s green-light in order to return to the cockpit of his McLaren-Honda in Malaysia next weekend. Almost a month since his mysterious Barcelona testing crash and subsequent hospitalisation, Alonso was back […]
Bottas recovering from back injury in Indonesia
Mar.19 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas is recovering from his back injury in Indonesia, the Williams team has confirmed. The Finn had to sit out the Melbourne season opener last Sunday after suffering a torn disc in his back during the qualifying hour. Reports said he subsequently travelled from Australia to Indonesia to prepare for the time-zone […]
Sauber surprised by van der Garde ‘accusations’
Mar.19 (GMM) Sauber has admitted it was “surprised” to read ousted driver Giedo van der Garde’s media statement on Wednesday. After the courtroom battle of Melbourne, the two sides have reached a settlement that reportedly involves the return of the Dutch driver’s sponsorship payments, legal fees and compensation to the tune of EUR 15 million. […]
Race pace gap to Mercedes not huge – Raikkonen
Mar.19 (GMM) Mercedes could have a race on its hands in 2015. After Melbourne, Christian Horner claimed the advantage now wielded by the silver team is bigger than at any time during Red Bull’s four-year title reign. Indeed, Lewis Hamilton qualified 1.4 seconds clear of the next-best team in Melbourne, even though he finished just […]
Kobayashi ‘not working on F1 comeback’ – manager
Mar.19 (GMM) Kamui Kobayashi’s manager has played down reports the Japanese driver is on the verge of a return to F1. Chikara Funada, who handles the former Toyota, Sauber and Caterham driver’s career, was spotted in the Melbourne paddock last weekend. 28-year-old Kobayashi lost his Caterham seat at the end of last season and for […]
New rules made for ‘right reasons’ – Williams
Mar.19 (GMM) Williams has become the next team to back F1’s current regulations. After Mercedes’ dominance of the Melbourne opener, Red Bull was so critical of the new-in-2014 turbo V6 formula that it threatened to quit the sport. But so far, no team has come out to back Red Bull’s strident stance. “The changes were […]
Bianchi points reason Manor survived – Booth
Mar.19 (GMM) Manor boss John Booth says the team would not have been resurrected without Jules Bianchi. Frenchman Bianchi, critically injured in an horror crash whilst driving for Manor’s former guise Marussia late last season, is still laying in a coma. “I think of Jules almost every day,” Booth told France’s Auto Hebdo, “and he […]
Mercedes’ Wolff says Ferrari step ‘impressive’
Mar.18 (GMM) Mercedes has tipped Ferrari to challenge in 2015. Having struggled in 2014, the fabled Italian team proved in Melbourne that it has leapfrogged Red Bull and Williams to be ‘best of the rest’ so far this year. “Compared to where we were last year,” Kimi Raikkonen told reporters, “for sure as a team […]
F1 keeps same ‘radio clampdown’ rules for 2015
Mar.18 (GMM) F1’s radio clampdown will not be ramped up in 2015. Last year, the FIA introduced a ban on so-called ‘driver coaching’ instructions, but intended to ramp it up even further for 2015 to also make the relaying of technical instructions from the pitwall to the drivers illegal. Anticipating the ban, many teams upgraded […]
Kobayashi in talks for Manor seat – report
Mar.18 (GMM) Just one race into 2015, the first driver moves are already shaping up. Spotted in the Melbourne paddock last weekend was Chikara Funada, who is the popular driver Kamui Kobayashi’s manager. Kobayashi, 28, lost his Caterham seat at the end of last season and for this year has signed up with Toyota in […]
McLaren denies tension as Alonso returns
Mar.18 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has stepped up his preparations to return to action in Malaysia next weekend. McLaren-Honda confirmed reports the Spaniard is at Woking, and on Wednesday he will be at the wheel of the team’s sophisticated driver simulator. “We have a programme to help Fernando back to racing,” a spokesman said. There have […]
Van der Garde camp set to outline Sauber deal
Mar.18 (GMM) The Giedo van der Garde camp is set to issue details of the compensation package agreed with Sauber. The battle between the Dutch driver and his backers and the struggling Swiss team raged in the Melbourne courts, but suddenly ended before qualifying for the 2015 season opener. Some sensed the intervening hand of […]
Wins ‘still possible’ for McLaren-Honda – Boullier
Mar.18 (GMM) Eric Boullier thinks it is “possible” McLaren-Honda might be in a position to win grands prix later in 2015. His comments follow reports elsewhere the team boss warned it might be “years” before the new British-Japanese collaboration is fully up to speed. Indeed, in an interview with Spain’s El Pais, Boullier admitted Honda […]
Van der Garde admits ‘F1 dream probably over’
Mar.18 (GMM) Giedo van der Garde on Wednesday admitted the Sauber legal affair has probably ended his formula one dream. The Dutchman’s management confirmed reports that a settlement with the Swiss team has resulted in the end of his 2015 race contract “by mutual consent”. Reports had suggested van der Garde, 29, and his backers […]
Renault speeds towards Red Bull divorce
Mar.17 (GMM) The divorce between Red Bull and Renault seems ever closer. Spain’s El Mundo Deportivo claims that amid reports the French engine supplier is looking to buy Toro Rosso, Renault has signed up former Mercedes chief Bob Bell. Bell, who was technical director at Renault’s works team in its title-winning era ten years ago, […]
Girlfriend tips Alonso for Malaysia return
Mar.17 (GMM) Fernando Alonso’s girlfriend says the Spaniard should be fit to return in Malaysia next weekend. After sitting out Melbourne as a result of his testing crash more than three weeks ago, the McLaren-Honda driver is reportedly travelling to Woking this week to work in the simulator. Team boss Eric Boullier also says a […]
Now Verstappen’s father slams Renault
Mar.17 (GMM) Former F1 driver Jos Verstappen has admitted he was “really upset” after the Australian grand prix. The Dutchman, whose 17-year-old son Max has just made his high-profile debut for Toro Rosso, is known to be a hard taskmaster. Once, during their kart racing days, Max crashed and his father refused to speak to […]
Manor will race in Malaysia – Booth
Mar.17 (GMM) Manor insists it is travelling to Malaysia next weekend to race. The FIA investigated the former Marussia team in Australia, amid suspicions the cars, drivers and mechanics only appeared in the Melbourne pits so that Manor remains eligible for its millions in official 2014 prize-money. Bernie Ecclestone is convinced the team had “zero” […]
2015 German GP ‘no longer possible’
Mar.17 (GMM) The last slim hope for this year’s German grand prix now appears over. With the embattled Nurburgring unable to fulfil its agreement to host the race in July, Bernie Ecclestone had been in talks with Hockenheim about filling the place. But circuit boss Georg Seiler told the Mannheimer Morgen newspaper on Tuesday: “We […]