Mar.3 (GMM) Things are finally looking up at McLaren. While some analysts believe the Honda power unit is still easily the least powerful in the field, it seems the Japanese carmaker may finally have turned a corner for 2016. Gone – reportedly to the relief of bosses Eric Boullier and Ron Dennis – is the […]
Red Bull to test F1 cockpit canopy in April
Mar.3 (GMM) Red Bull will test its own proposed solution to the issue of cockpit protection later this month. On Thursday, Ferrari surprised the F1 world when Kimi Raikkonen emerged from the pits for his installation lap with a black ‘halo’ mounted on his cockpit. It was a carbon mock-up of the solution conceived by […]
Todt ‘still friends’ with stricken Schumacher
Mar.3 (GMM) Jean Todt says he is still friends with Michael Schumacher, even in the wake of the seven time world champion’s serious head injuries. Little is known about the highly-confidential condition of Schumacher today, more than two years after he fell whilst skiing in the French alps. But Todt, once the boss at Ferrari […]
Magnussen happier at Renault than at McLaren
Mar.3 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen appears a happier man in 2016, in the wake of his ill-fated McLaren adventure. “I can feel that he fits in really well in this team,” his mother Britt said in the Renault motor home in Barcelona. “It’s as if the good old Kevin is back,” she added. Indeed, Magnussen admits […]
Todt tells Ecclestone to stop criticising F1
Mar.3 (GMM) Jean Todt has urged Bernie Ecclestone to stop criticising formula one. F1 supremo Ecclestone has rung in another new season with a familiar round of criticism, after last year crudely describing the sport he runs as “crap”. Todt, the FIA president, told Auto Bild Motorsport: “Can you imagine someone going to see a […]
Bank asks court for Mallya’s arrest
Mar.3 (GMM) Vijay Mallya on Thursday rejected calls for his arrest. Amid the ongoing fallout from the collapse of his airline Kingfisher, the State Bank of India on Wednesday had also asked an Indian court for the seizure of the Force India chief’s passport over unpaid loans. Local reports also said the court was asked […]
Wolff plays down Alonso driver swap claims
Mar.3 (GMM) Toto Wolff has played down reports Fernando Alonso almost replaced reigning champion Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes last year. Alonso had made the claims on Spanish radio, revealing talks took place when he was still a Ferrari driver about trading places with Mercedes’ British star. “It was tried. Yes, yes, there was this offer,” […]
Heat on Pirelli as tyre pressures rise
Mar.3 (GMM) The heat is back on Pirelli as a new F1 season looms. For the sake of the racing, the official supplier has added a new layer to its compounds for 2016 to limit the tyres’ effective lives and force pitstops. The rules have also been tweaked so that three compounds instead of two […]
Qualifying format still unknown for Melbourne
Mar.3 (GMM) The ‘will it, won’t it’ saga of the ever-changing qualifying format for 2016 continued in Barcelona on Wednesday. The F1 Commission recently agreed a tweaked ‘musical chairs’ format for the new season, but Bernie Ecclestone said it would be delayed until May so his software writers could catch up. However, team bosses met […]
Ferrari plays down rumoured engine problems
Mar.3 (GMM) Rumours are swirling in the Barcelona test paddock about problems with Ferrari’s 2016 power unit. Within sight of the end of the pre-season period, cooling holes have appeared in the side of the works team’s red car, Haas was grounded all day with a turbo issue on Wednesday, and Sauber has also had […]
Bottas not among dieting F1 drivers
Mar.2 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas has counted himself as not among those drivers who are dieting hard ahead of the 2016 season. Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo admits he was told to lose 5 kilograms before Melbourne, while Toro Rosso rookie Carlos Sainz slammed the pressure put on drivers by the regulations to be lighter than is […]
Mercedes denies cracking 1000hp barrier
Mar.2 (GMM) With every passing test day, the feeling in the Barcelona paddock is growing ever stronger that Mercedes will decimate all comers early in 2016. On Tuesday, as the last four days of pre-season running began, Nico Rosberg topped the field after finally running a set of soft tyres — beating Williams’ Valtteri Bottas, […]
F1 under fire for ‘unprofessional’ qualifying farce
Mar.2 (GMM) F1 officials have come under fire for what major newspapers including the Independent and Telegraph are calling the 2016 qualifying “farce”. Mere weeks before the new season, the decision-making F1 Commission agreed to implement a new ‘musical chairs’ elimination format for qualifying this year. But F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, reportedly the architect of […]
One-year deals for Magnussen, Palmer – boss
Mar.2 (GMM) Frederic Vasseur, the new team boss at Renault, has admitted neither team driver has a guaranteed future with the French marque beyond 2016. “Both drivers have a contract for one season,” he is quoted by the Danish broadcaster TV2, referring to Dane Kevin Magnussen and Briton Jolyon Palmer. “Formula one is moving all […]
Sauber may not be ‘100 per cent’ in Melbourne – Nasr
Mar.2 (GMM) Felipe Nasr admits Sauber’s newly-launched car may not be 100 per cent ready for the 2016 season opener in Australia in just over two weeks. While the rest of the teams were already testing their 2016 machines last week in Barcelona, Nasr’s Ferrari-powered C35 was unveiled only on Tuesday, ahead of just four […]
Alonso future depends on F1’s 2017 revolution
Mar.2 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says his future rests on the reforms that are slated to revolutionise formula one next year. 2017 will be the third and last in the Spaniard’s current McLaren-Honda contract, amid speculation more midfield straggling in cars that no longer excite him could spell the end of his 16-year F1 adventure. “The […]
‘Musical chairs’ qualifying set for Australia
Mar.2 (GMM) ‘Musical chairs’-style qualifying will take place ahead of the Melbourne season opener in just over two weeks. Earlier, Bernie Ecclestone had said that although the F1 Commission approved the controversial shakeup, the software-writers at Formula One Management would run out of time to be ready for the first race of 2016. However, Germany’s […]
2015 absence was Hockenheim ‘wake up’ – Ecclestone
Mar.2 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone is putting pressure on Hockenheim to up its game in order to secure Germany’s future on the F1 calendar. Hope that the Nurburgring might bounce back from its troubles is now all but gone, but F1 supremo Ecclestone said he preferred to see Germany sit out a year in 2015 than […]
Nasr admits points will be difficult in 2016
Mar.1 (GMM) Sauber is targeting the midfield in 2016. Last year, the Swiss team finished a lowly eighth in the constructors’ championship, and late on Monday it became the last team to unveil its new car for 2016. It is notably similar to its predecessor, but driver Felipe Nasr, whose sponsor Banco do Brasil is […]
US GP hopes buoyed as Austin lowers tax bill
Mar.1 (GMM) Hopes are increasing that the embattled US grand prix will in fact take place in October. Currently, the popular Austin race is marked as “subject to confirmation” on the 2016 calendar, after the Texan government reduced its annual contribution to the race fee from $25 million to less than $20 million. But F1 […]