May 12 (GMM) The only team missing from the post-race Barcelona test this week is Manor. “There is nothing to test,” Britain’s Times newspaper quoted deputy boss Graeme Lowdon as saying before the struggling backmarker left the Spanish grand prix venue. The two-day test, at which every team present must field at least one rookie, […]
McLaren wants helmet ‘tear-off’ rethink
May 12 (GMM) McLaren has called on F1 to consider a rule tweak about the disposal of drivers’ helmet visor tear-offs. The Honda-powered team found that Fernando Alonso’s brake failure in the Spanish grand prix, which caused him to almost run over the front jack-man in the pits, was caused by one of the disposable […]
Alonso defends Button after ‘negative’ slip
May 12 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has defended his teammate Jenson Button, after the British driver let his positivity slip after the Spanish grand prix. McLaren-Honda’s drivers and team management have been the epitome of positive energy so far in 2015, despite their disastrous level of performance and reliability. But after the Barcelona race, Button admitted […]
Red Bull ‘drivers not our problem’ – Horner
May 12 (GMM) Christian Horner has leapt to the defence of Red Bull’s drivers. Amid the Renault-powered former champions’ deep crisis, team official Dr Helmut Marko warned Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat after the Spanish grand prix to “look out”. “Paradoxically, the more inexperienced ones did the better job,” he said, referring to the sensational […]
Hamilton promises contract ‘news’ in Monaco
May 12 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has promised that the long delay over his new Mercedes contract will finally end at the next race. The repeatedly-delayed deal has triggered rumours of a switch to Ferrari, or that the Briton is demanding an exorbitant amount of money. But Hamilton, 30, said most of the estimates of the […]
McLaren ‘underestimated’ Honda switch – Hamilton
May 11 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he is surprised how much his old team McLaren is struggling in 2015. “When I saw them so lost in Australia, I thought to myself ‘How can that be?’” the reigning world champion said, referring to the once-great British team. Having been mentored and sponsored by Ron Dennis throughout […]
Hockenheim not ‘bad guys’ after German GP axe
May 11 (GMM) The sorry saga of the now-axed 2015 German grand prix has nothing to do with Hockenheim. That is the claim of circuit chief Georg Seiler, after some F1 fans and even insiders reacted with pleasant surprise when it emerged at the weekend that Germany will definitely be back on the calendar next […]
Ricciardo not committing to Red Bull yet
May 11 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo is not yet committing to the increasingly crisis-struck Red Bull beyond 2015. In Barcelona, rumours that the troubled former champion team’s Australian lead driver had signed a new deal for 2016 and beyond did the rounds. “We’re talking about it,” Ricciardo is quoted by Sky Italia, “but it depends on […]
Ferrari rumours ‘too early’ for Bottas – Massa
May 11 (GMM) All the talk about Valtteri Bottas’ future has come “too early”. That is the view of Felipe Massa, the former long-time Ferrari driver who today is the rising Finnish sensation’s teammate at Williams. In the past days and weeks, 25-year-old Bottas has been increasingly linked with a switch to Ferrari, having reportedly […]
‘Fuel flow story’ puts Ferrari on back foot
May 11 (GMM) The Hamilton versus Rosberg show is back on, according to Mercedes chief Toto Wolff after the Spanish grand prix. Team chairman Niki Lauda beamed at Barcelona on Sunday as he declared Nico Rosberg is “back” after ending a run of defeats to his on-form teammate Lewis Hamilton. “We saw it last year” […]
Ecclestone ‘always has upper hand’ – Barcelona chief
May 11 (GMM) Race chief Sebastia Salvado says his “worst memory” in the quarter-century history of the Spanish grand prix at Barcelona features none other than Bernie Ecclestone. Last weekend, the Circuit de Catalunya announced it has extended its deal to keep organising the formula one race at the track in Montmelo. But when asked […]
Volkswagen in F1 ‘would be great’ – Ecclestone
May 11 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has added even more fuel to the ever-growing ‘Audi-to-F1’ speculation. Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo and F1 legend Gerhard Berger fuelled the rumours last week, suggesting Dietrich Mateschitz is pushing hard for the Volkswagen-owned marque to power or even buy his struggling team Red Bull. Recently, arguably the biggest […]
Wolff admits wife Susie at F1 ‘crossroads’
May 10 (GMM) Toto Wolff has admitted his wife Susie has come to “a crossroads” in her F1 journey. Earlier in 2015, despite looking ahead to two Friday practice outings with Williams, 32-year-old tester Susie Wolff was overlooked by the British team for its vacant role as official reserve driver. Wolff admitted in Barcelona that […]
Manager says Schumacher condition ‘improving’
May 10 (GMM) Michael Schumacher’s manager says the condition of the seven time world champion is “improving”. Sabine Kehm, who is now guiding Schumacher’s son Mick on his first steps in single seaters, appeared in the Barcelona paddock ahead of the Spanish grand prix. When asked about the mostly unknown fate of F1’s most successful […]
Wolff happy to give Hamilton his freedom
May 10 (GMM) Toto Wolff says he is happy to give Lewis Hamilton his freedom. In the three week ‘break’ between Bahrain and Spain, the reigning world champion racked up the equivalent of a full circumnavigation of planet Earth in his red, $30 million private jet. Reports say he hopped from Bahrain to Monaco and […]
Red Bull crisis deepens in Barcelona
May 10 (GMM) Renault has turned down the performance of its troubled ‘power unit’ as it stands on the cusp of an embarrassing run of F1 grid penalties. Drivers powered by the French engines are rapidly running through their allocation of four units for the whole 2015 season. So when asked about the performance of […]
Lauda hears rumours of cars with ‘extra tank’
May 10 (GMM) The issue of ‘fuel flow’ has returned to the formula one paddock. A few races ago, we reported that the FIA was clamping down on monitoring the maximum allowed fuel flow limit, amid suspicions top manufacturers may have found a loophole. It was suspected some teams – perhaps Ferrari and Mercedes – […]
Berger doubts Strategy Group can save F1
May 10 (GMM) Roberto Merhi has arguably the least enviable job in all of formula one — the slowest driver at the wheel of the slowest car. So slow is the Spaniard’s Manor in Barcelona that he would also have qualified dead last for the this weekend’s GP2 race on the very same circuit. “It’s […]
2016 German GP return ‘1,000pc safe’ – Hockenheim
May 10 (GMM) Hockenheim’s boss says he is “1,000 per cent” sure the German grand prix will return in 2016. After failing to rescue this year’s event, Bernie Ecclestone said recently there is also no guarantee Hockenheim will return to the 2016 calendar, despite its bi-annual contract. But when asked about the 2016 German grand […]
Rosberg’s ‘humiliation over now’ – Lauda
May 10 (GMM) Nico Rosberg’s “humiliation” is finally over. That is the claim of Mercedes’ always-blunt team chairman Niki Lauda, who had urged the German to urgently find a way to stop Lewis Hamilton’s “extra-terrestrial”-like run of form. “The humiliation of the first races is over,” the F1 legend told RTL television after Saturday in […]