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 […]
Bosses to meet again over qualifying saga
Apr.3 (GMM) The farcical qualifying format saga is set to run and run, with bosses on Sunday only agreeing the date of the next meeting. The team chiefs got together before the Bahrain grand prix with Bernie Ecclestone and Jean Todt to discuss the future of the ‘musical chairs’ format, amid widespread hopes it will […]
Jury out over Williams’ new nose – Massa
Apr.3 (GMM) The jury is out over Williams’ highly-anticipated new ultra-short new nose and front wing assembly. After a long delay in getting the piece through the FIA’s mandatory crash tests, one version finally arrived in Bahrain on Saturday and was fitted to Felipe Massa’s car. The Brazilian qualified seventh — two thousandths of a […]
F1 governance unlikely to change until 2020 – Todt
Apr.3 (GMM) To the surprise of no one, the ‘musical chairs’ qualifying was run again on Saturday to collective cries for it to be scrapped. “It’s not good unless you have a weak bladder,” joked Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel, who is actually furious that F1 did not act collectively to revert to the 2015 system after […]
Mercedes asks parent for new clutch design
Apr.3 (GMM) F1’s reigning world champion team Mercedes has appealed to its carmaker parent Daimler to stave off a threat posed by 2016 title rival Ferrari. In Australia two weeks ago, both silver cars were beaten off the grid by the Ferraris, after the Maranello team proved to have best mastered the new rules limiting […]
Hamilton defies paddock ‘Snapchat’ ban
Apr.2 (GMM) On the very same day he acknowledged the ban, world champion Lewis Hamilton defied Bernie Ecclestone by filming inside the F1 paddock. Fiercely protective of the sport’s exclusive rights, the Ecclestone-led Formula One Management had reportedly noticed that Hamilton often films footage on his iPhone for ‘Snapchat’ videos. “The team (Mercedes) got a […]
Force India plays down absent boss Mallya’s troubles
Apr.2 (GMM) Force India deputy Bob Fernley has moved once again to play down the high-profile legal and financial problems surrounding Vijay Mallya. Mallya, the Silverstone based team’s co-owner and boss, was absent from the paddock not only in Australia but now in Bahrain. The latest news suggests he is offering to repay $600 million […]
Ecclestone set for more Monza future talks
Apr.2 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has kept hopes alive that Monza might retain the Italian grand prix beyond September’s 2016 race. In the past week, reports have suggested the negotiations might be close to collapse, but F1 supremo Ecclestone said on Friday that talks will resume “in a couple of weeks”. “There will be another meeting […]