Jun.12 (GMM) Renault has played down the impact of the ten-place grid penalties now being served by its F1 customers. The penalties are due to the sport’s long-life engine rules, this year limiting each driver to just four ‘power units’ for the entire 19-race calendar. With dire reliability trouble, the Renault-powered cars burned through their […]
Raikkonen has three races to impress Ferrari
Jun.12 (GMM) July 31 is a key date in the diaries of Ferrari and Kimi Raikkonen. According to Italy’s Corriere dello Sport, it is on that day that Ferrari’s ‘option’ to simply extend the Finnish driver’s current contract runs out. “I’m not worried about it at all. Time will tell,” Raikkonen said recently. But he […]
Manor could delay new car plans until 2016
Jun.12 (GMM) Manor is reportedly contemplating shelving its plans to introduce a new car in 2015. Earlier, having hurriedly modified the 2014 machine for the 2015 rule changes, the former Marussia outfit announced its intention to debut an all-new car after the summer break. But Speed Week now reports that, as the current car is […]
Marchionne tips Mercedes to ‘be reasonable’
Jun.12 (GMM) Sergio Marchionne has tipped Mercedes to be “reasonable” as the sport looks to tweak the engine freeze rules. In recent days, Red Bull chief Christian Horner has warned that unless the current restrictions on engine development are relaxed, the team’s partner Renault could quit the sport. But a lot will depend on Mercedes, […]
Williams expects strong weekend in Austria
Jun.12 (GMM) Williams’ race drivers expect their resurgence from the Monaco slump to hit an even higher gear in Austria next weekend. The British team struggled notably on the twisty turns of Monaco, but then bounced back strongly in Canada as Valtteri Bottas scored his first podium of 2015. And now, Williams is working on […]
Le Mans for ‘real men’ – Hulkenberg
Jun.12 (GMM) Le Mans is a circuit for “real men” of motor racing. That is the claim of Nico Hulkenberg, who has qualified a strong third overall for his debut in the fabled 24 hour race set to take place this weekend. “Driving here is fascinating,” the German, who is combining his part-time Porsche seat […]
Button hopes drivers consulted over F1 future
Jun.12 (GMM) Jenson Button hopes drivers are consulted as formula one steps into a more exciting future. Acknowledging some of the problems with the rules and the current generation of cars, F1 intends to slash 5-6 seconds from average laptimes from 2017. 2007 world champion Kimi Raikkonen admitted that would be “nice”. “I’m sure something […]
Ricciardo ‘definitely’ staying at Red Bull – Marko
Jun.12 (GMM) Red Bull has ruled Daniel Ricciardo out of the running for a Ferrari seat in 2016. Already linked with the place currently occupied by Kimi Raikkonen, Australian Ricciardo fired the Ferrari rumours even more in Canada when he admitted his growing frustration with Red Bull. “For my career, I need to be aware […]
Missing practice hurts Grosjean ‘quite a lot’
Jun.12 (GMM) Romain Grosjean admitted recently that sitting out Friday practice sessions this year affects his preparation for races. After some early appearances in 2015, Lotus reserve Jolyon Palmer then sat out Friday practice in Monaco and Canada. But the reigning GP2 champion’s management announced on Wednesday that the 24-year-old Briton will be back in […]
Marchionne knew closing gap to Mercedes not easy
Jun.11 (GMM) Sergio Marchionne says he was never under any illusion about the challenge faced by Ferrari in 2015. Sebastian Vettel’s breakthrough win wearing red came early this season, raising hopes the resurgent team might be ready to challenge Mercedes’ utter dominance. But five further races have now passed without a follow-up Ferrari victory, even […]
‘Customer cars’ just big teams’ money grab – Fernley
Jun.11 (GMM) Bob Fernley has accused F1’s biggest teams of conspiring against the smaller outfits. On Friday in Montreal, a meeting convened by McLaren’s Ron Dennis was attended only by representatives of three other teams — fellow grandees Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. Even the strategy group members Williams and Force India were excluded, and […]
Journalists say Horner should be F1 supremo
Jun.11 (GMM) Two authoritative F1 correspondents have identified Christian Horner as the ideal man to take charge of the sport’s future. Writing in the British newspaper The Times, Kevin Eason said F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone “must start to hand over — now.” The call comes amid a near-unprecedented round of introspection for the pinnacle of […]
Kubica backs Alonso’s ‘huge challenge’
Jun.11 (GMM) Robert Kubica has backed his old friend Fernando Alonso’s decision to join McLaren-Honda. Much has been made of Spaniard Alonso’s Ferrari departure, especially on the eve of the Italian team’s resurgence in 2015. Alonso, however, insists he made the right call as he didn’t want to be “second forever” wearing a red uniform. […]
Red Bull relationship still good – Vettel
Jun.11 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel says he maintains a good relationship with Red Bull and the energy drink company’s mogul Dietrich Mateschitz. Although now a Ferrari driver, German Vettel was groomed from boyhood by Red Bull’s junior programme, going on to win four world championships in the familiar dark blue. So as F1 moves on to […]
Mercedes ‘listening’ to unfreeze arguments
Jun.11 (GMM) Eric Boullier has tipped Mercedes to compromise over the current engine rules. Christian Horner, boss of the struggling Red Bull team, said this week that if the so-called ‘engine freeze’ rules are not relaxed, F1 must be prepared to wave “goodbye” to Renault. A complex ‘token’ system is giving Ferrari, Renault and Honda […]
Red Bull to take engine penalties in Austria
Jun.11 (GMM) Red Bull looks set to start dead last on the grid for its home race in Austria next weekend. The embattled energy drink owned team has acknowledged that, after burning through unreliable Renault engines early this year, grid penalties for fitting unscheduled fifth units will inevitably strike. It was suggested that a good […]
Raikkonen hopes to win a race in 2015
Jun.10 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen is hoping to win at least one race in 2015. After boss Maurizio Arrivabene gave the Finn “qualifying homework” to do after Monaco, Raikkonen duly lined up third on the grid in Montreal. But at the same time, Ferrari teammate Sebastian Vettel suffered technical problems and also a further grid demotion […]
Worried Vettel says F1 races ‘too complicated’
Jun.10 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has admitted he is worried about the future of formula one. The latest alarming news is from the Ferrari driver’s native Germany, where on Sunday the TV ratings for the Canadian grand prix were outpaced by a women’s football game. But Vettel tells Sport Bild magazine: “The best indicator is the […]
Force India missed Mercedes engine upgrade
Jun.10 (GMM) Force India had to do without Mercedes’ latest engine upgrade in Canada, it has emerged. Without having to trade in any of its in-season performance ‘tokens’, the German marque brought an upgraded power unit to Montreal. The rumour in the paddock is that while not actually more powerful, the reliability fixes mean the […]
Rosberg plays down Hamilton ‘inequality’ story
Jun.10 (GMM) Nico Rosberg has played down a controversy about an episode of apparent ‘radio coaching’ inequality during the Canadian grand prix. During the Montreal race, Lewis Hamilton’s engineer told the British driver that while his Mercedes teammate Rosberg has no problems with fuel consumption, the German’s brake situation was “critical”. But when Rosberg asked […]