Apr.13 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has played down suggestions McLaren is still not out of crisis even after dumping Honda. After blaming its woeful performance between 2015 and 2017 on the now departed Honda, McLaren now is behind newly Honda-powered Toro Rosso and still notably slow on the straights. And Alonso’s management supremo, Flavio Briatore, said […]
Raikkonen hits back at praise about physical condition
Apr.13 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen has dismissed team boss Maurizio Arrivabene’s statement that the Finnish driver is in better physical shape in 2018. Some have observed that the 2007 world champion appears slimmer and fitter this year, coinciding with his better performance at the wheel of his Ferrari. “I’m pretty pleased with Kimi’s performance,” team boss […]
Hamilton says sorry after Verstappen insult
Apr.13 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton moved to end the tension with Max Verstappen ahead of the Chinese grand prix. Days ago in Bahrain, the Mercedes driver called his Dutch rival a “d******d” following their clash. So during an autograph session in Shanghai on Thursday, Hamilton was seen extending a handshake to the Red Bull driver. “I […]
Wolff names Sainz as Mercedes candidate
Apr.12 (GMM) Toto Wolff has named more candidates as speculation about the Mercedes driver lineup of the future ramps up. Currently, both Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas’ contracts expire at the end of the season. Mercedes wants Hamilton to stay, but the British driver appears to be playing hardball with conditions including contract length and […]
No extra Friday sessions for Kubica – Lowe
Apr.12 (GMM) Paddy Lowe has admitted Williams’ young driver lineup is a challenge amid the team’s big current problems. The once-great British team’s technical boss said even Williams engineers were caught by surprise by the extent of the 2018 car’s issues early this year. “Everyone in the field has their problems, but we have bigger […]
Vettel in China with fresh confidence and haircut
Apr.12 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has arrived in China with more confidence about winning the 2018 world championship. While Mercedes may still have the ultimate edge in terms of pace, the Ferrari driver has won both races so far. Lewis Hamilton admits he is worried. “There are good things to come but I am 17 points […]
Hakkinen backs pitstop incident investigation
Apr.12 (GMM) Mika Hakkinen has backed the investigation into the sort of pitstop incidents seen so far in 2018. In Australia, both Haas cars were released from the pits with loose wheels, and in Bahrain a Ferrari mechanic’s leg was badly broken in a sickening incident. Hakkinen, the 1998 and 1999 world champion, said the […]
Axing Honda was McLaren mistake – Marko
Apr.12 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko says McLaren’s 2018 car is obviously “not great”. The British team went into Bahrain targeting the top three teams, but was ultimately outpaced even by the newly Honda-powered Red Bull junior team Toro Rosso. “Mr Alonso wanted to attack Red Bull but he was behind the Toro Rosso,” Marko is […]
Williams car ‘slowest’ in 2018 – Stroll
Apr.11 (GMM) Mika Salo has backed Williams to significantly improve its car. It has been a nightmare start to the 2018 season for the once-great British team. First, critics blasted Williams’ decision to pair young pay-drivers Lance Stroll and Sergey Sirotkin, and then it emerged that the new car is among the very slowest on […]
‘Difficult’ diet gave Ericsson 2018 boost
Apr.11 (GMM) Marcus Ericsson says losing weight over the winter helped him end his F1 points drought. Bahrain was the Swede’s 78th grand prix, but it also almost marked the 50th race in a row in which Ericsson failed to score points. Told by Blick newspaper that he had ended the nightmare run just in […]
Honda admits F1 a ‘different story’ after McLaren
Apr.11 (GMM) Honda says it has started a “different story” in formula one. After three woeful seasons together, McLaren dumped Honda at the end of 2017. The Japanese manufacturer went off to Toro Rosso, which could have been the start of a deeper collaboration with Red Bull Racing for 2019 and beyond. And in Bahrain […]
Gasly admits Bahrain could help F1 career
Apr.10 (GMM) Pierre Gasly has admitted his weekend in Bahrain will not have hurt his quest for a top seat in formula one. Toro Rosso’s rookie Frenchman stunned the F1 world by qualifying sixth and finishing fourth — Honda’s best result since its return to the sport over three years ago. And Gasly, 22, had […]
Russia pressing ahead with ‘grid girls’ plan
Apr.10 (GMM) The promoter of the Russian grand prix says he is determined to find a way around F1’s new ‘grid girl’ ban. Monaco has already announced that, notwithstanding Liberty Media’s ban, “beautiful women” will be on the grid next month — albeit not to hold the driver boards. And a similar approach is being […]
Ferrari can win 2018 title – Briatore
Apr.10 (GMM) Ferrari really can win the 2018 world championship. That is the view of former Renault boss Flavio Briatore, after Sebastian Vettel won the opening two races of the season in Australia and Bahrain. “This Ferrari is better than the last,” he told Italian Rai radio. “I would say that it is on par […]
Hulkenberg questions Verstappen crash explanation
Apr.10 (GMM) Heads are still being scratched, several days after Max Verstappen explained away his qualifying crash in Bahrain. The Dutchman says his Red Bull-Renault package suddenly delivered him an extra 150hp from the engine, throwing him into a barrier. But another Renault-powered driver says that story makes little sense. “First I’d like to ask […]
Hamilton questions Verstappen’s maturity
Apr.10 (GMM) World champion Lewis Hamilton has questioned Max Verstappen’s maturity. A controversy broke out after the Bahrain grand prix, where Hamilton called his Dutch rival a “d——d” following a clash. But Sebastian Vettel leapt to the defence of Hamilton’s “human” reaction, and even Verstappen agreed. “At the moment he said that, he was still […]
Williams car ‘simply not good enough’ – Kubica
Apr.9 (GMM) The true extent of Williams’ 2018 troubles are becoming ever clearer. In Melbourne, it looked likely that the once-great British team’s new car has not been born well. And in Bahrain, it was a Williams that was dead last not only in qualifying, but also the race. Arguably struggling the most is rookie […]
‘New era’ for Honda is coming – Tost
Apr.9 (GMM) A “new era” in F1 involving Honda and Red Bull could be dawning. That is the prediction of Franz Tost, the boss at Toro Rosso. In Bahrain, Pierre Gasly stunned F1 by driving his newly Honda-powered car to the best result of the Japanese manufacturer’s return to formula one. It comes just two […]
Brown denies McLaren juniors promised F1 debut
Apr.9 (GMM) A McLaren junior driver has backtracked after saying Zak Brown has promised him he will move into F1 next year if he wins the Formula 2 title. Nyck de Vries had told a Dutch publication that the promise is “spelled out in black and white” in his contract, “and that’s what Zak told […]
Grid girl comeback comment ‘a joke’ – Hamilton
Apr.9 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has backtracked after enthusiastically hailing the return of F1 ‘grid girls’. Despite new F1 owner Liberty Media having banned ‘grid girls’ for 2018, organisers of the grands prix in Monaco and Russia indicated they would bring beautiful women back to the sport this year. Hamilton responded by adding the caption ‘Thank […]