Apr.25 (GMM) Vijay Mallya will not be coming to any grands prix in the foreseeable future. The Indian government has now revoked the Force India boss and co-owner’s passport. Mallya’s passport had already been temporarily suspended amid his legal troubles following the collapse of his airline. And a source told the Hindustan Times newspaper that […]
Susie Wolff defends Ecclestone amid sexism charge
Apr.25 (GMM) Susie Wolff, F1’s most successful female driver of recent times, has defended Bernie Ecclestone amid accusations of sexism. F1 supremo Ecclestone, 85, caused an international media furore last week when he said: “I don’t know whether a woman would physically be able to drive an F1 car quickly, and they wouldn’t be taken […]
Magnussen targets Palmer in bid for 2017 seat
Apr.25 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen says he wants to keep beating his teammate as he bids to stay at Renault for a second year in 2017. Although the newly-reacquired Enstone team struggled for pace in China, Magnussen impressed relative to his rookie teammate Jolyon Palmer and he says staying in front of the Briton is his […]
F1 must reconsider ‘power to grip’ ratio – Berger
Apr.25 (GMM) F1 needs to turn a revolutionary corner in order to revive the spectacle of the past. That is the view of Gerhard Berger, speaking just a few days before F1’s end-of-April deadline for agreeing a set of different technical rules for 2017. The latest rumours are that, in addition to wider tyres and […]
Private teams cannot win in ‘new’ F1 – Alonso
Apr.25 (GMM) Fernando Alonso is sure he is in the right place with one of the four car manufacturers in formula one. At the end of 2014, the Spaniard switched from Ferrari to the new McLaren-Honda project, insisting that he could not face more years of finishing second. “In 2014 I could not fight for […]
Vettel ‘knows me better now’ – Kvyat
Apr.25 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat is heading to his home race in Russia confident that Sebastian Vettel now knows him better. Vettel, the four-time world champion, took on his younger rival in a verbal argument after the Chinese grand prix, following an incident that resulted in the German making contact with his Ferrari teammate Kimi Raikkonen. […]
Renault’s Canada upgrade on track – Abiteboul
Apr.25 (GMM) Renault is on track to unveil a significant upgrade for its ‘power unit’ in Canada. The French marque’s F1 official Cyril Abiteboul has already said the step could see Renault halve the current performance deficit to F1 engine leader Mercedes. As well as the struggling works team, customer Red Bull is also looking […]
Rosberg knows winning streak must end
Apr.25 (GMM) Nico Rosberg is heading into this weekend’s Russian grand prix knowing that his winning streak cannot last forever. “I’m just trying to soak up and enjoy every moment,” said the Mercedes driver, who has won the last six grands prix on the trot and is leading the 2016 world championship by 36 points. […]
Briatore happy to help Monza keep F1
Apr.25 (GMM) Uncertainty over the future of the fabled Italian grand prix at Monza continues, despite a key meeting that took place late last week. F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone and his long-time confidante Flavio Briatore met at the Lombardy headquarters with president Roberto Maroni and his deputy Fabrizio Sala. “If Bernie takes his private jet […]
Haas would release Grosjean to ‘top team’
Apr.25 (GMM) Gene Haas says he will not force Romain Grosjean to stay at the new American outfit if a “top team” wants to sign him. A tough weekend in China aside, Frenchman Grosjean has been impressive for the Ferrari-linked outfit so far, amid his obvious desire to one day switch to the works team. […]
Mick Schu’s F1 road harder than Max’s – Jos
Apr.25 (GMM) Mick Schumacher may not experience as smooth a journey towards formula one as did F1 teen sensation Max Verstappen. That is the view of Max’s father Jos, who was the F1 legend Michael Schumacher’s teammate at Benetton back in the mid-90s. Verstappen’s 18-year-old son, however, made it to formula one before Mick, who […]
Bottas admits to eyeing Mercedes seat
Apr.25 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas has admitted he would not say no if a seat opened up for him at the works Mercedes team. The Finn has driven throughout his four-season F1 career for Williams, but last year he was strongly linked with a potential move to Ferrari. Now, the 26-year-old could once again play a […]
Ferrari to race upgraded engine in Russia
Apr.23 (GMM) Ferrari will bid to breathe life into its 2016 championship charge by unveiling a key engine upgrade for Russia next weekend. Germany’s Auto Bild reports that the Maranello team will trade in three of its in-season development ‘tokens’ following reliability problems in Australia and Bahrain and a troubled race in China. It has […]
Vergne hopes to test 2017 tyres
Apr.23 (GMM) Jean-Eric Vergne thinks the additional testing allocated for Pirelli’s 2017 tyre development will give him a chance to return to F1 action. After threatening to quit the sport if it cannot prepare properly for the new regulations featuring wider tyres, Pirelli has now been granted 25 days of running. Five top teams, including […]
Ecclestone in Milan for Monza talks
Apr.23 (GMM) Monza’s F1 future may have come to a head during a meeting in Milan late this week. Amid Monza’s troubled negotiations with Bernie Ecclestone, La Gazzetta dello Sport reports that the F1 supremo travelled to Milan late this week to meet with Lombardy president Roberto Maroni. The report added that, at the regional […]
McLaren explains Magnussen company car story
Apr.22 (GMM) McLaren says there is a simple explanation as to why Kevin Magnussen never received a $500,000 company car whilst driving for the British team. The Dane, who now drives for Renault after being dropped by McLaren, revealed to local broadcaster TV2 this week that he never received his McLaren 650S road car even […]
Super Formula ‘more demanding’ than F1 – Vandoorne
Apr.22 (GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne says he is looking forward to the first race in his new Japanese racing adventure this weekend. The McLaren-Honda reserve, who scored the team’s first point of 2016 whilst deputising for Fernando Alonso in Bahrain, is now in Japan to prepare for the opening round of the Super Formula series at […]
India asks Britain to deport Mallya
Apr.22 (GMM) Force India chief Vijay Mallya’s legal troubles are continuing to deepen. Already, the Indian government was moving against the former billionaire over huge debts from the collapse of his airline Kingfisher. Mallya, the Force India team principal and co-owner, has been absent from all three grands prix so far in 2016, and his […]
Corners tweaked at Malaysian F1 track
Apr.22 (GMM) Sepang, the long-time host of the Malaysian grand prix, has undergone some layout tweaks ahead of its October race. The track near Kuala Lumpur was designed and built by Hermann Tilke, but an Italian company called Dromo Circuit Design has been working on the 2016 tweaks, including a full resurfacing. The first race […]
Wolff ‘afraid’ of 2017 rule changes – Marko
Apr.21 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has slammed a “paranoid” Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff for trying to spoil F1’s charge towards faster cars for 2017. It is Wolff who has been leading the charge verbally amid speculation many teams are in fact now opposed to the technical changes that should result in faster and more […]