May 2 (GMM) Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne on Monday said he is sure the Maranello team will bounce back from its current dip. Although Mercedes’ closest challenger in 2016, Ferrari has been struck by reliability and race incidents, including Sebastian Vettel’s push into the Sochi barrier by Daniil Kvyat on Sunday. Not only that, the […]
Mercedes eyes ‘step back’ to recover reliability
May 2 (GMM) Mercedes chiefs Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff say priority number 1 is for the reigning champions to solve car reliability problems. While Nico Rosberg utterly dominated at Sochi, his teammate Lewis Hamilton has suffered repeated technical problems that have caused some conspiracy theories to surface. Boss Wolff, however, said the German marque […]
Raikkonen unsure about future beyond 2016
May 2 (GMM) The pressure on Kimi Raikkonen is mounting. The Finn, whose Ferrari contract runs out this year, opened his 2016 podium account on Sunday but boss Maurizio Arrivabene hinted he expected more. “Raikkonen? He had a good race but after the safety car it could have been better,” the Italian is quoted by […]
Father has accepted Ratzenberger death
May 2 (GMM) 22 years on, the father of Roland Ratzenberger says he and his wife have accepted the tragic death of their son. Most thoughts over the weekend at Sochi were about the F1 legend Ayrton Senna, as Sunday was the first grand prix since that fateful day at Imola in 1994 on which […]
Ferrari won’t give up on 2016 title – Arrivabene
May 2 (GMM) Maurizio Arrivabene insists Ferrari must keep its eye on the goal of winning the 2016 world championship. Amid reliability troubles and recent race incidents for Sebastian Vettel, some suggest the pace and points gap to Mercedes is already looking insurmountable. Team boss Arrivabene, however, is staying upbeat. “Everyone was aware before the […]
Mick missing Michael on road to F1 – Max
May 2 (GMM) Max Verstappen has predicted a tough road to formula one for another son of a famous former driver. The young Dutchman was 17 when he made his sensational grand prix debut last year — the same age that Mick Schumacher is today. Verstappen’s father Jos, who was once the great Michael Schumacher’s […]
FIA determined amid head protection opposition
May 1 (GMM) F1 is pressing ahead with radical cockpit protection even though the sport’s chief executive is opposed. “I don’t like it,” Bernie Ecclestone declared at Sochi on Sunday, after the Red Bull-championed ‘Aeroscreen’ had been debuted in practice. When asked what F1 should do about further cockpit protection, he said without hesitation: “Nothing.” […]
Kvyat phoned Vettel after Sochi crashes
May 1 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat on Sunday said he had spoken with Sebastian Vettel on the phone after the Russian grand prix. Two weeks after their pre-podium verbal argument in China, Russian Kvyat had an horror home race at Sochi after hitting Ferrari’s Vettel from behind not once but twice on the first lap. German […]
Mercedes blasts anti-Hamilton conspiracy
May 1 (GMM) Mercedes on Sunday rubbished suggestions Lewis Hamilton’s horror run of bad luck so far in 2016 may be a conspiracy. As Nico Rosberg turned his six-race winning streak into an almost unprecedented seven at Sochi, some were daring to wonder if reigning champion Hamilton’s continuing reliability problems have been more than just […]
Lauda takes step back as television pundit
May 1 (GMM) Niki Lauda is taking a step back from his full-time duties as the lead pundit for German television. The F1 legend has held the RTL microphone for years but the broadcaster admitted at Sochi that it has agreed that Lauda will no longer appear on-screen at every grand prix. “As chairman of […]
Vettel sure Ferrari can win 2016 title
May 1 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel insists the 2016 title race is not already over. Many think Nico Rosberg, who could extend his extraordinary winning streak from six to seven straight races in Russia, is now pulling into an unassailable position at the top of the drivers’ world championship. It comes amid an almost equally extraordinary […]
Button hopes to stay for Honda’s new 2017 engine
May 1 (GMM) Jenson Button has confirmed reports Honda is working on a major redesign of its F1 ‘power unit’ for McLaren to use in 2017. The Japanese marque has made steps forward this year after a disastrous 2015, but Button was still a tenth shy of making it into ‘Q3’ in Russia. So while […]
Tost ‘more than happy’ with Toro Rosso lineup
May 1 (GMM) Max Verstappen will continue to steal the limelight even though Carlos Sainz is also doing a good job. That is the view of the duo’s Toro Rosso boss Franz Tost, amid speculation it could be Dutchman Verstappen who is promoted to the senior Red Bull team for 2017. “Max is doing great, […]
Two Sauber figures absent in Russia
May 1 (GMM) Monisha Kaltenborn is once again missing in action this weekend in Russia. Earlier in 2016, the Sauber boss and co-owner’s paddock absence stirred speculation the Swiss team’s obvious financial problems may in fact be terminal. But the well-connected Swiss newspaper Blick insists that Kaltenborn is only absent this weekend at Sochi in […]
F1 says Azerbaijan fighting no threat to race
May 1 (GMM) F1’s governing body as well as supremo Bernie Ecclestone have backed Azerbaijan after declaring local fighting is no risk to the inaugural grand prix in Baku next month. A month ago, the Azerbaijan government dismissed suggestions fighting in Nagorno-Karabakh, a disputed local region, might jeopardise the safe running of forthcoming sports events. […]
Sirotkin to get another Friday outing – manager
Apr.30 (GMM) Sochi was not a one-off Friday morning appearance for Sergey Sirotkin. That is the claim of the young Russian’s manager, after Sirotkin impressed in front of his home crowd to go faster than Renault regular Jolyon Palmer. New tester Sirotkin, 20, and his backers SMP Racing, have inked a deal with Renault that […]
Ferrari pushing ‘like crazy’ to catch Mercedes
Apr.30 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has had a troubled weekend so far in Russia. After early-season reliability trouble and then a controversial clash with teammate Kimi Raikkonen in China, the German then struck more reliability problems on Friday in Russia. And a changed gearbox means he will serve a five-position demotion on the Sochi grid. According […]
Palmer suspects Nasr-like chassis flaw
Apr.30 (GMM) Jolyon Palmer is beginning to suspect a chassis problem may be behind his recent struggle to match his Renault teammates’ pace in 2016. After a solid F1 race debut in Melbourne, the British rookie struggled notably in China – finishing dead last – and he says those troubles have carried over into Russia. […]
Russia GP secure with Putin’s backing – Ecclestone
Apr.30 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone says Russia will stay on the F1 schedule so long as it has the backing of Vladimir Putin. The F1 supremo is an avowed admirer of the controversial Russian president, who Ecclestone said is likely to present the trophies on the podium on Sunday. “We’ll see, but we would be very […]
Toro Rosso chief admits Verstappen could ‘move up’ in 2017
Apr.30 (GMM) The Max Verstappen camp is not denying speculation the Dutchman looks set to graduate from Toro Rosso to the main Red Bull team for 2017. Amid rumours Red Bull must complete the promotion in order to hang on to the 18-year-old contractually, Dr Helmut Marko recently hinted that Verstappen is so good that […]