Aug.23 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel ended Sunday’s Belgian grand prix with a foul mood — and a mandatory visit to the stewards. So angry was the Ferrari driver with his late-race Pirelli tyre blowout that he forgot to deliver himself to the FIA’s Jo Bauer to be weighed. He was busier doubting Pirelli chief Paul Hembery’s […]
Pay-rise could end Button’s F1 career – reports
Aug.23 (GMM) Jenson Button’s F1 career could end because of a pay-rise that is scheduled to kick in for 2016. Two British newspapers, the Daily Mail and the Telegraph, are reporting that the 35-year-old’s current retainer of $12.5 million would rise to almost $19 million if McLaren takes up the ‘option’ on his existing deal. […]
Blowout mystery to remain at Belgian GP start
Aug.23 (GMM) Drivers will start the Belgian grand prix unsure as to what caused Nico Rosberg’s horror 300kph tyre blowout of Friday. Pirelli said on Saturday that it had ruled out a structural failure, while the FIA made tweaks to the kerbs at the fabled Eau Rouge corner ahead of qualifying. As to the exact […]
Lauda told Hamilton to delete machine gun video
Aug.23 (GMM) Niki Lauda ordered that a video of Lewis Hamilton firing a machine gun be removed from the reigning world champion’s social media accounts. On Saturday, a controversy exploded when the video emerged depicting the Mercedes driver firing the weapon at a shooting range, just one day after news broke of a gunman opening […]
Arai denies saying Honda would match Ferrari
Aug.23 (GMM) For McLaren and Honda, the 2015 season has gone from bad to worse. Before Spa-Francorchamps, Honda’s Yasuhisa Arai promised that an engine upgrade for Belgium would bring the ‘power unit’ in line with Ferrari’s. But at Spa, the reality has been perhaps McLaren-Honda’s worst performance of the entire season, and penalties totalling a […]
Van der Garde causes a stir with Spa paddock visit
Aug.23 (GMM) Giedo van der Garde says he is not targeting a return to formula one. On Saturday, the Dutchman announced on social media that he is visiting the Belgian grand prix — his first paddock appearance since the Melbourne court dramas. “Don’t panic Sauber,” he wrote on Twitter, “I’ve only got some meetings.” Actually, […]
Red Bull drivers want end to Renault-fuelled crisis
Aug.23 (GMM) Two drivers from Red Bull’s F1 stable are urging for change. Both struggling around the long blasts of Spa-Francorchamps with their Renault engine, Red Bull’s Daniil Kvyat and Toro Rosso’s Max Verstappen make no secret that they would like more power for 2016. “Personally, I hope that this moment will come to an […]
Vettel hoping for start ‘chaos’ or rain
Aug.23 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel is hoping Spa-Francorchamps’ rare dry spell does not continue. Oddly this weekend, the fabled layout in the notoriously fickle Belgian Ardennes region has remained rain-free so far. So after a poor qualifying, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel is turning his eye to Sunday’s weather man, who thinks rain might affect the Belgian grand […]
Verstappen tells Schumacher to step up to Formula 3
Aug.23 (GMM) Max Verstappen has urged Michael Schumacher’s son to make the step into Formula 3 for 2016. This year, 16-year-old Mick made international headlines as he took the leap out of karts and into single seaters, starting with the German Formula 4 series. So far, it has been an up-and-down debut campaign for the […]
Sochi chiefs in contract talks with Ecclestone
Aug.22 (GMM) Russia is pushing to secure its long term future on the F1 calendar. The Sochi race’s current contract runs until 2020, but there has been constant speculation about the future of the deal, fuelled by political instability as well as financial concerns. Russian sources on Saturday report that Alexander Saurin, vice governor of […]
Pic admits Lotus ‘did not respect the contract’
Aug.22 (GMM) Yet another cloud has formed above the troubled Lotus team’s garage. The story began to emerge on Friday, when the Enstone team broke the personnel curfew at Spa-Francorchamps. A clear breach of the rules, Lotus asked the FIA for dispensation. “Due to extraneous circumstances,” a stewards report explained, “after the covers had been […]
Ecclestone says high chance of Monza axe
Aug.22 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has admitted hopes of rescuing the endangered Italian grand prix at fabled Monza are now slipping away. Optimism had risen recently, as crucial tax exemptions finally passed through parliament and officials sounded hopeful their campaign to keep the popular circuit on the calendar had succeeded. But F1 supremo Ecclestone applied the […]
Red Bull terminates Renault engine deal – report
Aug.22 (GMM) Rumours about the futures of Red Bull, Renault and Lotus are speeding away just as quickly as the cars at Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday. Bailiffs are still swirling around the embattled Lotus camp, as the current owners hold fire on their problems while Renault is poised to decide whether or not to buy back […]
Ferrari could abandon driver ‘academy’ – report
Aug.22 (GMM) Ferrari could be set to abandon its young driver programme. Citing Italian sources, the Finnish newspaper Ilta Sanomat claims that new team president Sergio Marchionne, notorious for his strict economising, is no fan of the so-called ‘driver academy’. Founded in 2009, and based on the earlier grooming of Felipe Massa, the first academy […]
Pirelli rules out tyre failure in Rosberg blowout
Aug.22 (GMM) Nico Rosberg’s 300kph blowout at Spa-Francorchamps on Friday was not caused by a structural tyre failure. That is the highly anticipated news from Pirelli early on Saturday, following an exhaustive investigation at the scene of the Belgian grand prix and also back at the marque’s Milan headquarters. Pressure had been piled onto Pirelli […]
Honda’s hopes collapse as Alonso targets 107pc
Aug.22 (GMM) Fernando Alonso insists he is not distraught, even though a highly-touted Honda engine upgrade appeared not to have pushed McLaren up the pecking order. Honda chief Yasuhisa Arai had extolled the potential of the upgrade for Spa-Francorchamps, saying it would bring the power unit in line with Ferrari’s. But in Friday practice, Alonso […]
Drivers push Pirelli for answers after Rosberg scare
Aug.22 (GMM) Drivers are pushing Pirelli for an explanation to the tyre failure that pitched Nico Rosberg out of control at more than 300kph on Friday. The Mercedes driver admitted it was luck rather than talent that prevented a horrifying impact with the barriers at one of F1’s fastest and most dangerous circuits. Paddy Lowe, […]
Sauber not worried about future with Ferrari
Aug.21 (GMM) Sauber is not worried it will become Ferrari’s last priority in 2016 and beyond. Already this year, the Swiss team has had to wait until this weekend’s Belgian grand prix for the engine specification that Ferrari debuted way back in Canada. And from 2016, the new American entrant Haas will make its F1 […]
Alonso not surprised by Raikkonen news
Aug.21 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he was not surprised by this week’s news that Ferrari has re-signed his former teammate Kimi Raikkonen for 2016. Alonso, now at McLaren-Honda, easily outperformed the Finn last year, but Raikkonen was successor Sebastian Vettel’s preferred choice for next season. German Vettel insisted his word at Ferrari is not gospel, […]
F1 to remain on free TV in Germany – reports
Aug.21 (GMM) German fans can heave a sigh of relief, as the broadcaster RTL has penned a new free-to-air television deal with Bernie Ecclestone. Until now, in the wake of the demise of the 2015 German grand prix and declines in ratings, it was said RTL was negotiating hard with the F1 supremo for a […]