Apr.5 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton is keeping calm, even though he is already 17 points behind at the start of his 2016 championship defence. Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg has extended his late 2015 winning streak into the start of the new season, winning both in Australia and Bahrain. Hamilton’s Bahrain race was marred by another bad […]
Vandoorne ‘the next Alonso’ – Boullier
Apr.5 (GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne appears to have put his F1 career on the fast track after making an impressive race debut in Bahrain. Although Fernando Alonso says he is “99 per cent” sure his chest injuries will be in the past by China in ten days, McLaren now sounds more convinced than ever that it […]
F1 car seized amid Fittipaldi’s mounting debts
Apr.5 (GMM) F1 great Emerson Fittipaldi has had legendary racing cars from his private collection seized amid reports of deep financial problems. O Estado de S.Paulo newspaper said 69-year-old Fittipaldi, one of Brazil’s most famous racing names and a two-time world champion, has accumulated debts to the tune of $27 million. The report said Brazilian […]
Rosberg named in ‘Panama Papers’ tax evasion leak
Apr.5 (GMM) Championship leader Nico Rosberg’s name is among hundreds implicated in an enormous global leak of documents known as the ‘Panama Papers’. The 11.5 million confidential documents come from a law firm in Panama called Mossack Fonseca, exposing a web of secret offshore companies allegedly used to hide wealth, evade tax and launder money, […]
Amid rumours, Horner backs pressured Kvyat
Apr.5 (GMM) Christian Horner has moved to lift the pressure from the shoulders of Red Bull driver Daniil Kvyat. There is speculation the energy drink company may need to promote the meteoric teenager Max Verstappen from Toro Rosso or risk losing him to a major rival like Mercedes or Ferrari for 2017. It could be […]
Developing car next hurdle for Haas – Grosjean
Apr.5 (GMM) The real challenge for Haas will be keeping up with the lightening speed of F1’s in-season development, Romain Grosjean has admitted. The French driver and new American team have stunned F1 over the opening two race weekends in the life of Haas, scoring enough points to see Grosjean sandwiching the works Ferrari drivers […]
Vettel slams ‘aggregate’ qualifying format
Apr.5 (GMM) Quadruple world champion Sebastian Vettel is once again leading the fierce criticism amid the latest instalment of the 2016 qualifying format debacle. The Ferrari driver did not hide his anger when F1 switched to the hated ‘musical chairs’ system without the backing of drivers and engineers, and now he has blasted news that […]
Verstappen showed maturity in Bahrain – father
Apr.5 (GMM) After the criticism of Australia, Max Verstappen put his reputation back on track in Bahrain. That is the view of his father Jos, after the 18-year-old Toro Rosso driver lashed out at his team and teammate Carlos Sainz during the 2016 season opener. Verstappen then finished sixth in Bahrain. “Yes, it comes at […]
Alonso says Button criticism ‘not fair’
Apr.4 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he is “99 per cent” sure he will be back at the cockpit of his McLaren in China. Sidelined with chest injuries in Bahrain, the Spaniard angrily rejected the advice of pundit Johnny Herbert to seize the opportunity and hang up his helmet for good. Asked if he was surprised […]
Kaltenborn skips Bahrain amid collapse rumours
Apr.4 (GMM) In the early rounds of the 2016 season, Sauber is clinging to mere survival. The Swiss team cleared a high hurdle recently after falling behind in February wage payments to its 300 staff, but more problems are now obviously on display. Felipe Nasr, the Brazilian driver whose sponsor Banco do Brasil is Sauber’s […]
Azerbaijan says fighting no risk to F1 race
Apr.4 (GMM) Azerbaijan says intense fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed local region, does not jeopardise forthcoming sports events like the inaugural Baku street race. A war with Armenian separatists ended in 1994, but at least 30 soldiers and one child were killed and civilians injured in intense fighting taking place as recently as Sunday. “Azerbaijan, […]
Haas taking F1 on wrong road – Symonds
Apr.4 (GMM) Romain Grosjean is no longer being asked if switching from what became the Renault works team this year to the all-new Haas project was a wise choice. The Frenchman is now fifth overall in the world championship, ahead even of Ferrari’s championship contender Sebastian Vettel. “It’s not bad!” Grosjean grinned after a second-consecutive […]
Ferrari will not use veto over qualifying
Apr.4 (GMM) Maurizio Arrivabene says Ferrari will not wield its famous veto to prevent F1 from solving the current impasse over qualifying. With the sport needing to find an agreeable format by Thursday, some have wondered whether F1 could be stuck with the hated ‘musical chairs’ if Ferrari uses an unique veto it has over […]
Ferrari plays down reliability flaw rumours
Apr.4 (GMM) Ferrari on Sunday played down rising speculation its championship campaign could be derailed in 2016 by a fundamental reliability flaw. Amid rumours of a fault with the turbo design, Kimi Raikkonen – who retired with a flaming airbox in Australia – said before the Bahrain grand prix when asked if Ferrari has a […]
McLaren ‘can count on’ Vandoorne in future
Apr.4 (GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne has left Bahrain a happy F1 debutant, even though he will probably have to hand back the keys to Fernando Alonso in China. The highly-rated Belgian, the reigning GP2 champion, made his F1 race debut in Bahrain after the McLaren-Honda regular was sidelined with chest injuries. Vandoorne, 24, more than impressed, […]
Todt backs doctors amid Dennis’ frustration
Apr.3 (GMM) FIA president Jean Todt has backed the decision to keep Fernando Alonso on the sidelines this weekend. McLaren supremo Ron Dennis on Saturday admitted his frustration after the governing body’s doctors refused a late bid to re-assess Alonso’s health and let him return to the cockpit. “Fernando felt good and wanted to drive […]
Mercedes open to MotoGP test for Hamilton
Apr.3 (GMM) Mercedes has opened the door for a potential MotoGP test for the team’s reigning world champion Lewis Hamilton. Last year, the Briton said: “When my dad bought me my first go-kart I actually wanted a motorbike. “I’d love to test a MotoGP bike just to see what it’s like.” The natural fit for […]
Magnussen qualified just to beat Palmer
Apr.3 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen said he put the pedal to the metal in qualifying without even thinking about getting a good spot on the Bahrain grid. That is because, no matter where the Dane qualified, he would always have to start Sunday’s race from the pitlane after running a red light on Friday. “It’s no […]
Baku, F1 confirms revised start time
Apr.3 (GMM) Race organisers and F1 have confirmed reports that the race start time for the inaugural grand prix in Azerbaijan is changing. We reported on Saturday that after daylight saving was scrapped in the country, Baku promoter Arif Rahimov had asked the FIA and Bernie Ecclestone to agree to wind back the official start […]
Teams told to consider ‘aggregate’ qualifying
Apr.3 (GMM) F1 bosses have been told to mull over an all-new ‘aggregate’ format for qualifying, after reverting to the 2015 system was ruled out by the sport’s authorities on Sunday. “It’s crazy,” one source at the meeting told the Telegraph newspaper, as it emerged that simply abandoning the failed ‘musical chairs’ experiment was no […]