Sep.14 (GMM) Mika Hakkinen has defended his protege Valtteri Bottas, after the younger Finn missed out on a touted move to Ferrari for 2016. Despite weeks of speculation linking him with a high-profile move from Williams, the British team ultimately announced that both Bottas and teammate Felipe Massa are staying put. Some believe the Ferrari […]
Singapore declares air quality ‘very unhealthy’
Sep.14 (GMM) Hazy skies are once again hanging over the Singapore grand prix. In the days before last year’s popular night race in the city-state, the local environmental agency said air pollution had reached “unhealthy” levels due to fires in nearby Indonesia. The very same problem has now returned for 2015, except this time the […]
Force India, Lotus want to keep drivers for 2016
Sep.14 (GMM) Force India is shaping up to extend Sergio Perez’s contract. Already signed and sealed is teammate Nico Hulkenberg’s new deal, while Mexican Perez and his backers have been linked with a potential switch to Renault. That could be because, if the Lotus buyout is completed, current team driver Pastor Maldonado’s PDVSA backing does […]
Manor eyes talks with potential investors
Sep.14 (GMM) Manor has recruited a British investment bank to hold talks with potential team investors. That is the news of F1 business journalist Christian Sylt. Also writing in the Telegraph in June, Sylt said the latest accounts showed that Manor is “wholly reliant” on funding from Stephen Fitzpatrick, who rescued the team after its […]
Nasr won’t copy Ericsson in changing approach
Sep.14 (GMM) Felipe Nasr sounds determined to hit back at his teammate Marcus Ericsson. After a strong start for Brazilian rookie Nasr, it is Ericsson who has wrestled back the upper-hand at the Swiss team Sauber at recent races. The Swede has credited mental coaching, changing his overall approach to the weekend and working more […]
Red Bull can win with Ferrari power – Webber
Sep.14 (GMM) Mark Webber thinks the switch to Ferrari power will be good for his former team Red Bull. It is yet to be formalised or announced, but it is now expected that, after the Mercedes deal fell over, the former quadruple world champions will switch from Renault to Ferrari customer power for 2016. Sport […]
Melbourne secures F1 future until 2023
Sep.13 (GMM) Race organisers in Melbourne have added yet another three years to the contract of the Australian grand prix. Last August, amid uncertainty over the future of the 20-year-old event at Albert Park, it was announced that a new deal through to 2020 had been signed. “To know there are many more home grands […]
Rivals helped Lotus survive Monza weekend
Sep.12 (GMM) Lotus’ direct rivals helped the embattled team get through the recent Italian grand prix. Overnight rain before qualifying day at Monza damaged some of the Enstone team’s tyre blankets, it has emerged. “Our colleagues helped us out with some replacements,” chief engineer Alan Permane told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, referring to Sauber, […]
Hulkenberg eyes Le Mans title defence in 2016
Sep.12 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg has announced he wants to defend his title as Le Mans winner in 2016. The German has secured a new two-year deal with Force India, after this season convincing boss Vijay Mallya to let him run a parallel LMP1 programme with Porsche. And now he wants to return to the fabled […]
Region tells Ferrari to ‘do more’ to save Monza
Sep.11 (GMM) Regional president Roberto Maroni has once again called on Ferrari to step in to help save the endangered Italian grand prix. Maroni, the head of the Lombardy region, has said previously that he would like Ferrari to threaten to quit formula one over the uncertainty surrounding the future of the historic Monza race. […]
Merhi stops F.Renault series due to F1 ‘clashes’
Sep.11 (GMM) Roberto Merhi looks set to keep his Manor seat for the remainder of 2015. Until now, the Spanish rookie has been driving race-for-race for the British backmarker, and has therefore kept his full-time seat in the Formula Renault 3.5 series. But his team Pons, led by former F1 driver Emilio de Villota, has […]
Sauber ‘hoped for more’ from FIA – Kaltenborn
Sep.11 (GMM) Monisha Kaltenborn says she is not confident the small teams’ concerns about their future is being heard by F1’s governing body. Caterham and HRT have collapsed, Manor only narrowly survived the winter and now Lotus’ serious financial crisis is playing out publicly in the 2015 paddock. Sauber and Force India have also had […]
Honda could test F1 engine in Super Formula car
Sep.11 (GMM) Honda could fit its much-criticised F1 engine to a ‘Super Formula’ open wheel car, the Italian magazine Autosprint reports. In its latest edition, published earlier this week, Autosprint said the move could be a way for the embattled Japanese manufacturer to prove its 2015 ‘power unit’ is not as bad as many believe. […]
Ecclestone involved in Red Bull’s Ferrari solution
Sep.11 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone had to get involved as Red Bull broke its Renault contract and searched for a new engine supplier. That is the claim of Livio Oricchio, the respected correspondent for Brazil’s Globo, as the future of the former quadruple world championship-winning team shapes up. It is now widely believed that Renault has […]
Kerb could have caused Spa blowouts – report
Sep.11 (GMM) A new theory about what caused the tyre blowouts at Spa-Francorchamps recently has emerged. Pirelli was on the back foot after the Belgian grand prix weekend, as it analysed what caused the tyre explosions suffered at high speed by Nico Rosberg and Sebastian Vettel. F1’s official supplier came under attack for the quality […]
‘No damage’ after Ferrari rumours – Bottas
Sep.11 (GMM) His performance may have been hurt, but Valtteri Bottas insists his relationship with Williams is undamaged in the wake of intense rumours. While the 26-year-old Finn was linked for weeks and months with a move to Ferrari, Williams chief Pat Symonds said he thinks Bottas’ pace alongside the notably on-form Felipe Massa was […]
Alonso hopes Button keeps McLaren seat
Sep.11 (GMM) Jenson Button staying at McLaren next year would be “a good thing”. That is the view of fellow McLaren-Honda driver Fernando Alonso, amid speculation the struggling Woking team might be close to agreeing to keep the 2009 world champion on board for 2016. Earlier, it was suggested the team’s woeful form this year […]
Hamilton doubts McLaren will be successful in 2016
Sep.10 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he does not expect McLaren-Honda to enjoy a return to form in 2016. Before moving to Mercedes, the British driver made his debut for the once-great Woking team, winning the title in 2008 and finishing his McLaren career in late 2012 with pole position at the final race of the […]
Mental coaching helped Ericsson beat Nasr
Sep.10 (GMM) Marcus Ericsson says he has worked hard to become Sauber’s most competitive driver. Early in 2015, it was the Brazilian rookie Felipe Nasr with the firm upper hand at the Hinwil based team. It caused Swede Ericsson, who moved to Sauber after debuting for the ill-fated Caterham team, to re-focus. “The car was […]
Rules to blame for F1 problems – Berger
Sep.10 (GMM) Gerhard Berger says one of F1’s biggest problems today are the rules. The F1 legend and former ten-time grand prix winner says he now watches on television but finds the races hard to follow due to complicated regulations. “We are all so fond of a four-way battle for victory,” Berger told Austrian Servus […]