May 10 (GMM) Renault Sport president Jerome Stoll said the French marque “knew” it could find itself in a difficult situation in 2019. He said the works team made a conscious decision to push hard with aggressive development for the new season. “We knew we were taking risks and we could face a situation like […]
Ricciardo not regretting Renault move
May 10 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo insists he does not regret moving to Renault. The Australian left Red Bull, an undisputed top three team, for the works Renault project. His ex boss, Dr Helmut Marko, thinks Red Bull’s former engine supplier tricked Ricciardo with data. “Hand on my heart,” Ricciardo said in Barcelona. “I feel good […]
Magnussen to drive ‘old’ Haas in practice
May 10 (GMM) Only Romain Grosjean will be trying Haas’ major car upgrade in Friday practice. The American team has an objectively fast car this year, but it is the worst in the field in terms of getting temperature into the tyres in the race. So for Barcelona, the upgrades are extensive, including new wings, […]
Verstappen denies Red Bull has ‘new car’ for Spain
May 10 (GMM) Max Verstappen has denied that Red Bull has a “completely new car” for Barcelona. Some are predicting the Honda-powered team will be a real surprise this weekend in Spain, given the extent of the car upgrades. “I’ve even read reports that we have come here with a completely new car,” Dutchman Verstappen […]
Pressure ‘enormous’ for Ferrari – Ralf Schumacher
May 10 (GMM) Ferrari needs to win in Barcelona to keep its championship hopes alive. That is the view of former F1 driver Ralf Schumacher, who said the pressure on the Maranello team in Spain is “enormous”. “Their potential is there, but wrong decisions, a technical problem and some driving errors has meant they have […]
Stroll plays down qualifying pace struggles
May 10 (GMM) Lance Stroll says he knows he has to improve his qualifying pace. The young Canadian moved for 2019 from struggling Williams to the newly-named Racing Point team, which was bought last year by Stroll’s father Lawrence. So far, he is struggling to be fast on Saturdays. “I’m not too worried because you […]
Hamilton says new engineer boosting Bottas
May 10 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have played down suggestions their relationship could break down. Some, including Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, have warned that given the closeness of their championship battle so far, there are signs the relationship could go the way of the toxic Hamilton-Nico Rosberg pairing. “I don’t think it’s appropriate […]
Ecclestone backs 21-race calendar for 2020
May 10 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has backed the move to keep the F1 calendar at 21 races. With Vietnam and Zandvoort reportedly coming in, it was expected Liberty Media’s push to expand the calendar had begun. But F1 chief executive Chase Carey says the 2020 calendar looks to also have 21 races. “The calendar at […]
Leclerc ‘seems faster’ than Vettel – Ecclestone
May 10 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has changed his mind about Charles Leclerc. Earlier, the former F1 supremo criticised Ferrari for installing the youngster as Sebastian Vettel’s new teammate. “I was wrong,” the 88-year-old told La Gazzetta dello Sport. “I thought getting rid of Raikkonen was not a good idea. “Before giving a final judgement I […]
Leclerc admits reputation ‘encouraging’
May 10 (GMM) Jacques Villeneuve says Charles Leclerc is not criticised as much as his Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel. 21-year-old Leclerc moved from Sauber to Ferrari for 2019 and so far he is being widely praised, despite his high profile qualifying crash in Baku. “Imagine if Vettel had done that,” 1997 world champion Villeneuve is […]
F2 to race 18-inch tyres in 2020
May 10 (GMM) Formula 2 will start using 18-inch Pirelli tyres next year, it was announced in Barcelona. The news was announced by Pat Symonds, who is the sport’s chief technical officer. He admitted it is a precursor to Formula 1’s switch to the lower profile tyres for 2021. “It’s a great opportunity for our […]
Williams could stop designing gearbox
May 10 (GMM) Claire Williams insists the struggling British team is not giving up on 2019. George Russell and Robert Kubica arrived in Barcelona with the media expecting Williams’ woeful car to be updated. But both drivers say the updates are actually smaller than expected. “There were a few things on the plan but unfortunately, […]
Carey expecting more problems for F1 TV
May 10 (GMM) Chase Carey says he feels “pretty good” about F1’s live streaming service. That is despite the fact that ‘F1 TV’ has been plagued with problems from the beginning, and they continued last weekend in Baku when the service crashed on lap 2. “We actually feel pretty good about the product,” F1 chief […]
Bottas discovers secret to beating Hamilton – Rosberg
May 9 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas has discovered the secret of beating Lewis Hamilton. That is the belief of Nico Rosberg, who finally beat Hamilton to the world title in 2016 and then promptly quit Mercedes and the sport. His successor was Bottas, who struggled alongside Hamilton in 2017 and 2018 but this year is already […]
Berger tips Ferrari to win 2019 title
May 9 (GMM) Gerhard Berger thinks a driver wearing red will win the 2019 world championship. That is despite the fact that, at all four of the races so far this year, Mercedes has completed a record-breaking early run of 1-2 finishes. But F1 legend and DTM boss Berger does not think the title fight […]
Barcelona ‘a must’ on F1 calendar – Sainz
May 9 (GMM) Carlos Sainz says keeping Barcelona on the F1 calendar is “a must”. However, there is grave uncertainty about the future of the Spanish GP beyond this weekend’s race, as the circuit and Liberty Media negotiate a new deal. “I think this grand prix has enough history and cache to tell all the […]
Situation ‘extremely difficult’ for Williams drivers
May 9 (GMM) Claire Williams says the Williams team’s current situation has nothing to do with its drivers. Robert Kubica returned to F1 this year amid much fanfare, while his teammate is the reigning Formula 2 champion George Russell. But Williams is flailing at the very back of the grid, and Pole Kubica – who […]
Ferrari could veto Wolff as F1 CEO – report
May 9 (GMM) Ferrari could veto Toto Wolff’s candidacy to become CEO of Formula 1. A report in Racefans claims the Mercedes boss could be lining up to replace Chase Carey, with both men’s contracts expiring at the end of next year. But as F1 business journalist Christian Sylt reports, Ferrari could throw a spanner […]
Rio set to replace Interlagos as Brazil GP host
May 9 (GMM) Rio de Janeiro is on track to replace Interlagos as host of the 2020 Brazilian grand prix. We reported two weeks ago that F1 commercial boss Sean Bratches wrote to Brazilian president Jair Bolsonaro in support of the move from Sao Paulo. The race would take place on a new track in […]
Pirelli responds to complaints about 2019 tyres
May 8 (GMM) Mario Isola has responded to complaints about Pirelli’s 2019 tyres. Struggling to get the new tyres in a narrow operating ‘window’ in the races, Haas’ boss Gunther Steiner says the team has one of the best cars in the midfield. But he said: “Only Williams is worse than us in the race.” […]