Oct.15 (GMM) Gunther Steiner has given the strongest hint yet that Haas will complete its first F1 driver lineup with Esteban Gutierrez. The new American team has already signed up Lotus’ Romain Grosjean for 2016, and hinted strongly that his teammate will be a Ferrari-linked test driver. The two Ferrari-clad candidates are Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne […]
Ferrari backs Raikkonen after crash criticism
Oct.15 (GMM) Ferrari has leapt to the defence of Kimi Raikkonen, amid rising criticism of the Finn’s driving in Russia. The 2007 world champion was penalised by the stewards for ending his podium battle with Valtteri Bottas with a crash. Fellow Finn Mika Hakkinen criticised Raikkonen for not clearly accepting the blame, surmising that he […]
Boss says F1 calendar ‘attack’ on Le Mans
Oct.15 (GMM) Le Mans chief Gerard Neveu says F1’s re-jigged calendar for 2016 is “a clear attack” on the fabled 24 hour endurance race. FIA president Jean Todt has already approved and defended Bernie Ecclestone’s schedule, despite the fact the clash of the inaugural grand prix in Azerbaijan and Le Mans in June will prevent […]
McLaren-Honda says update ‘better than expected’
Oct.15 (GMM) McLaren-Honda is suddenly sounding much more confident about the future. Until now, while insisting that the fabled Anglo-Japanese combination will eventually bear fruit, there has been little sign of progress in 2015. But that may all have changed at Sochi last weekend, where Fernando Alonso was at the controls of a new Honda […]
Verstappen now linked with Ferrari – report
Oct.15 (GMM) Speculation about his F1 future is swirling around teen sensation Max Verstappen. The latest rumours have been triggered by the Red Bull engine crisis, as the energy drink company is forced to consider pulling both of its F1 teams out of the sport. So as the possibility rises that rival teams will have […]
Pirelli waiting for FIA to approve 2017 deal
Oct.14 (GMM) Pirelli is now waiting for the FIA to formalise its new deal to keep supplying tyres to F1 teams beyond 2016. As they symbolically shook hands on the Sochi grid last Sunday, Bernie Ecclestone and Pirelli CEO Marco Tronchetti Provera revealed that they have agreed terms over a new three-year contract until 2019. […]
Marko rules out unilateral solution for Toro Rosso
Oct.14 (GMM) More days have come and gone while Red Bull’s now urgent engine crisis remains unsolved. Owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s end-of-October deadline is now looming large, with reports suggesting the Austrian billionaire has reverted to assuring the more than 1000 staff of the two teams that they will be given new jobs outside of F1. […]
Button tips Magnussen for 2016 race seat
Oct.14 (GMM) Jenson Button has tipped McLaren-Honda stablemate Kevin Magnussen for a formula one race seat in 2016. The pair were partnered together at the Woking team last year, but McLaren-Honda is now charging ahead with an all-champion lineup of Button alongside Fernando Alonso. It has left Magnussen champing at the bit as mere McLaren […]
Raikkonen, Bottas exchanged words after crash – Hakkinen
Oct.14 (GMM) Countrymen Valtteri Bottas and Kimi Raikkonen exchanged words in the wake of their controversial last-lap crash. That is the claim of a third Finn, former double world champion Mika Hakkinen, who has weighed into the crash that cost Bottas a podium, Raikkonen a penalty and handed Mercedes an early constructors’ championship win. Bottas […]
Lotus takeover unlikely until December – Gastaldi
Oct.14 (GMM) The uncertainty about Lotus’ future is likely to race on beyond the end of the 2016 season. That is the admission of the struggling Enstone team’s deputy Federico Gastaldi, despite the fact that Renault’s letter of intent to buy Lotus referred to “weeks” rather than months for the process to be completed. “I’m […]
Newly-published 2016 rules causing a stir
Oct.14 (GMM) F1’s newly-published rules for 2016 are causing a stir on Wednesday. The first apparent anomoly in the FIA’s new regulations is the stipulation that a “maximum” of 20 grands prix may be held, even though Bernie Ecclestone has put forward a 21-race schedule featuring Azerbaijan for the first time. Another feature of the […]
Red Bull ‘crisis meetings’ raced into new week – report
Oct.13 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has clarified that F1 risks punching a four-car hole in the grid if a solution to the engine supply crisis is not found. At Sochi, it was rumoured that while former quadruple world champion Red Bull Racing is hitting a brick wall, the junior team Toro Rosso is having much […]
Raikkonen happy to support Vettel’s title charge
Oct.13 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen says he has no problem playing a supportive team role if it will help his teammate Sebastian Vettel win the 2015 title. Indeed, with German Vettel now moving into second place behind Lewis Hamilton, some suspected Ferrari-branded ‘team orders’ were already in play at Sochi last Sunday. Raikkonen appeared to let […]
Vettel defends decision to guard private life
Oct.13 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has defended his decision to fiercely shield his private life from the world’s glare. His approach to fame and fortune is starkly different to fellow multiple world champion Lewis Hamilton, who is constantly on the red carpet and uploading personal photos to Instagram. “My lifestyle is nothing like Hamilton’s,” the Ferrari […]
Alonso doubts he will race beyond 2017
Oct.13 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has played down the likelihood that he will drive a single race beyond the end of his current McLaren contract. Amid McLaren-Honda’s abysmal 2015, there have been rumours the Spaniard might take a sabbatical next year, even though he is all signed up for 2016 and 2017. Alonso rejected that speculation […]
Vandoorne ‘optimistic’ of F1 debut in 2016
Oct.13 (GMM) New GP2 champion Stoffel Vandoorne is confident he will be on the formula one grid in 2016. The Belgian, 23, wrapped up the title in Russia last weekend with two rounds still to run, with many declaring it perhaps the most impressive GP2 campaign in history. But last year’s GP2 champion, Lotus reserve […]
Rosberg doubts he will support Hamilton in title charge
Oct.13 (GMM) Nico Rosberg has played down the likelihood that he will have to spend the remainder of the season playing a supporting role for his teammate. After his Sochi breakdown, Mercedes’ German driver was actually passed for second in the championship by Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel. It means a German wearing red is now Hamilton’s […]
F1 will ‘never’ stop open cockpits – Ecclestone
Oct.13 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone says he does not back moves to put a cover or canopy over the drivers’ heads in formula one. A spate of incidents in F1 and other categories, including the deaths of Jules Bianchi and Justin Wilson but also Carlos Sainz’s worrying brush with the barriers at Sochi, has ramped up […]
Signs of progress as McLaren-Honda ‘tests’ in 2015
Oct.12 (GMM) McLaren-Honda’s focus is now firmly on 2016, as the Anglo-Japanese collaboration openly eyes the remaining races of this season as tests. Indeed, at Sochi, an upgraded ‘power unit’ – with a notably different engine note – was debuted in Fernando Alonso’s car in practice. And after Sunday’s race, teammate Jenson Button said: “We […]
Prost doubts Red Bull, Renault can repair ‘damage’
Oct.12 (GMM) Alain Prost is not sure the damaged relationship between Renault and Red Bull can be repaired. Red Bull, and its sister team Toro Rosso, risk being left without a power unit to use in 2016, after Mercedes and Ferrari ruled out jumping to the rescue. And it is clear that officials of the […]