Apr.27 (GMM) John Booth is returning to formula one. At the end of last season, the Manor founder and boss left the F1 backmarker, with Stephen Fitzpatrick having rescued the team following the Marussia collapse. Together with Graeme Lowdon, Booth re-emerged with a Le Mans team foray for 2016 but it was announced on Tuesday […]
Ecclestone wants to be ‘dictator’ again
Apr.27 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone on Wednesday said he would like to become F1’s “dictator” once again. Speculation in recent days has suggested the sport’s major carmakers including Ferrari may be moving against the F1 supremo, in a bid to see his long reign ended. Ecclestone, 85, confirmed to the Russian sports newspaper Sovetsky Sport that […]
Sirotkin deal could go beyond 2016 – manager
Apr.27 (GMM) Renault’s new works team surprised the F1 world on Tuesday when it revealed the identity of its new test driver. It was in 2013 when Sergey Sirotkin, then a teenager, was central to a so-called ‘Russian rescue deal’ for the struggling Sauber team that ultimately fell through. Sirotkin is now in GP2 with […]
Rosberg finally ready to be champion – Hakkinen
Apr.27 (GMM) Mika Hakkinen says 2016 championship leader Nico Rosberg might finally be ready to win his first F1 title this year. Hakkinen, the two-time world champion of 1998 and 1999, told the German-language Spox in an interview that he has known Rosberg since the Mercedes driver was just a boy. “I remember him walking […]
Still no agreement after key F1 meetings
Apr.27 (GMM) As the sport’s key decision-making groups met outside London on Tuesday, the Austrian newspaper Kleine Zeitung talked of “the most important meetings for formula one in recent years”. Indeed, now just days before the end-of-April deadline for agreeing the radical plan, F1 seemed locked in dispute about whether speeding up the cars by […]
New chassis not ready for struggling Nasr – Sauber
Apr.27 (GMM) Felipe Nasr will not be able to end his early 2016 troubles by switching to a new Sauber chassis this weekend in Russia. After complaining about the handling of his chassis in all three race weekends so far and suspecting a flaw, it had been reported Nasr would get an all-new version of […]
Arrivabene plays down engine upgrade reports
Apr.27 (GMM) Ferrari team boss Maurizio Arrivabene has played down reports an engine upgrade is set to give the Maranello team a big boost in Russia this weekend. We reported last week that with Sebastian Vettel a full 42 points behind the leading Mercedes in the drivers’ championship, the German will get a key engine […]
Sirotkin admits targeting Renault race debut
Apr.27 (GMM) Sergey Sirotkin on Wednesday admitted he is targeting a full race seat at Renault for 2017. 24 hours ago, the French works team announced that the 20-year-old Russian, backed by the Vladimir Putin-supported SMP Racing, will drive in Kevin Magnussen’s place at Sochi on Friday morning. “In fact, the programme is quite extensive,” […]
Lauda, Wurz named as potential Ecclestone successors
Apr.26 (GMM) F1 has entered an “important week”, according to Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. And he is not just talking about this weekend’s Russian grand prix, the fourth round of the 2016 world championship. Before the sport’s major figures head to the resort city of Sochi for the Vladimir Putin-championed race, the F1 Strategy […]
Honda designing ‘new concept’ engine for 2017
Apr.26 (GMM) Honda is working on an all-new engine concept for 2017. That is the claim of Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, despite the fact McLaren’s engine partner has made clear progress this year after the nightmare start of the works collaboration in 2015. “The car feels good and we’re definitely heading in the right […]
Russian billionaire completes Nurburgring purchase
Apr.26 (GMM) A Russian billionaire is now the full owner of the fabled F1 circuit the Nurburgring. In late 2014, we reported that Viktor Kharitonin, who co-founded the pharmaceutical company Pharmstandard, had bought into the embattled German grand prix venue. Forbes Russia now reports that Kharitonin, 43, has upped his stake from 80 to 99 […]
Now India revokes Mallya’s passport
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 […]