Oct.30 (GMM) Hot on the heels of Hurricane Patricia, the F1 world now has its eye on another natural phenomenon. 75 kilometres from the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, the Popocatepetl or ‘El Popo’ volcano has erupted. De Telegraaf, a Dutch newspaper, said the eruption has hurled a huge cloud of ash some 2,500 […]
Red Bull drops quit threat as engine deadline looms
Oct.30 (GMM) Red Bull appears to have dropped its earlier threat to voluntarily quit formula one. As team owner Dietrich Mateschitz’s end-of-October deadline now looms large, the message is that all the energy drink outfit needs now is a power unit. “We need to know where things are headed,” team official Dr Helmut Marko told […]
Gutierrez confirms Haas race seat for 2016
Oct.30 (GMM) Esteban Gutierrez has confirmed the worst-kept secret in the F1 paddock — that he will complete Haas’ 2016 driver lineup. The new American team has scheduled an official announcement to be made in Mexico City on Friday, to be streamed live on the websites of Gutierrez’s sponsors Claro and Telmex. Within the paddock, […]
Lotus-Renault buyout still looking uncertain
Oct.30 (GMM) With the Renault buyout still not done, the prevailing mood of uncertainty remains at Lotus for now. It could be that Red Bull’s eleventh-hour efforts to patch up its broken relationship with Renault threw a spanner in the works of the Lotus buyout deal. “A letter of intent is something,” the Haas-bound Lotus […]
Hamilton reluctant to help Rosberg beat Vettel
Oct.30 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton says he is reluctant to help teammate Nico Rosberg cap off Mercedes’ 2015 season with a clean sweep. The German team and the British driver have already wrapped up the constructors’ and drivers’ world championships, with the only unfinished business now being a one-two in the latter title race. Currently, Ferrari’s […]
Ferrari shelves latest engine spec until 2016
Oct.30 (GMM) Ferrari has sidelined the latest specification of its F1 ‘power unit’ for the remainder of the 2015 season. That is the claim of the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, referring to the unit that reportedly utilises the Maranello outfit’s final four performance upgrade ‘tokens’ for the season. Ferrari considered debuting the engine in Austin, […]
Manor to lose bosses Booth and Lowdon – report
Oct.30 (GMM) Manor is losing its most prominent bosses, the Telegraph newspaper reports on Friday. Correspondent Daniel Johnson said founder John Booth, and deputy Graeme Lowdon, “have resigned” and will step down at the end of the year. That is despite the former Marussia team surviving the near collapse of last winter, and inking technical […]
Teams not keen on Ecclestone’s ‘client engine’ plan
Oct.29 (GMM) Up and down pitlane, there is little enthusiasm for Bernie Ecclestone and the FIA’s plan for a ‘client engine’ in formula one. F1 supremo Ecclestone, who has convinced FIA president Jean Todt to back him, said the current ‘power unit’ era is an existential threat to the sport. “We must introduce this new […]
McLaren confirms veto for Red Bull-Honda deal
Oct.29 (GMM) McLaren has effectively confirmed reports it has vetoed the supply of customer Honda power units to Red Bull next year. With Mercedes and Ferrari already saying no to the embattled former quadruple world champions, Honda appeared to be the last resort after Red Bull terminated its contract with current supplier Renault. “It would […]
Rosberg angry as Hamilton wins third title
Oct.26 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton’s celebratory moments as he became a triple world champion on Sunday had a bitter tinge. As he equalled his boyhood hero Ayrton Senna’s title tally at the end of a dreary weekend in Austin, Briton Hamilton said it was the best moment of his life. But in the moments before he […]
Alonso says new Honda only ‘one tenth’ better
Oct.26 (GMM) Fernando Alonso put the brakes on McLaren-Honda’s apparent recent progress after the US grand prix. Using Honda’s token-upgraded ‘power unit’ for the first time in a race, the Spaniard had fought his way from dead last to fifth when reliability trouble struck. “If we had finished fifth I think it would have been […]
Mercedes denies reneging on Red Bull deal
Oct.26 (GMM) Mercedes has denied agreeing but then reneging on a handshake deal to supply Red Bull in 2016. Many believe the energy drink owned outfit only has itself to blame for terminating its fractured relationship with Renault before finalising an alternative supply of ‘power units’. But with a solution nowhere in sight for now, […]
Ecclestone unsure Finland GP ‘realistic’
Oct.26 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has admitted the idea of a Finnish grand prix might not be “realistic”. In August, Ilta Sanomat newspaper reported that the F1 supremo had talks with potential race promoters over the weekend of the Hungarian grand prix. Finland has a rich tradition of successful F1 drivers, including current racers Kimi Raikkonen […]
Hamilton can be ‘as big as Tiger Woods’
Oct.26 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton is on the road to becoming one of the world’s biggest ever sporting personalities. That is the claim of Zak Brown, an F1 marketing and sponsorship executive and expert who said the new triple world champion’s impact reaches far beyond the paddock. “Lewis is building his own brand,” he told the […]
Hulkenberg not cheering for three-car teams
Oct.26 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg insists he is not looking to rev up his own formula one career by cheering for Red Bull to depart. If the engine supply crisis does see Red Bull and Toro Rosso left without ‘power units’ for 2016, F1 might need to plug the gaps in the grid by asking some […]
Red Bull says work on 2016 car pushing ahead
Oct.25 (GMM) Red Bull has denied that it will now run out of time to get a car ready to race in 2016. The former world champions’ engine supply crisis has dragged on for so long that even in Bernie Ecclestone’s opinion, “They will be in trouble whatever engine they get because of the timing,” […]
FIA allays F1 driver safety fears
Oct.25 (GMM) Pastor Maldonado says he is happy with the safety levels in formula one. With the death of Jules Bianchi still on minds in the paddock, the sport was further shaken at Sochi two weeks ago when Carlos Sainz and Romain Grosjean crashed heavily in separate incidents. The Sainz crash raised many questions, including […]
Ecclestone confirms plan for new F1 engine
Oct.25 (GMM) As Hurricane Patricia brought a different kind of whirlwind to the Austin paddock, Bernie Ecclestone on Saturday confirmed his plans to introduce a second tier of engine regulations in formula one for 2017. “If we don’t do it, we will lose some teams,” the F1 chief executive warned at the torrentially-sodden Circuit of […]
Haas to confirm Gutierrez on Friday
Oct.25 (GMM) The long wait for Haas to complete its first F1 driver lineup looks set to end next week. It is now an open secret that the new American outfit, headed by Californian machine tool magnate and Nascar team co-owner Gene Haas, has signed up Ferrari reserve and Mexican Esteban Gutierrez to join Romain […]
Red Bull ‘must reconcile with Renault’ – Lauda
Oct.25 (GMM) Suddenly, where once it was all change in the rapidly-divorcing worlds of Red Bull and Renault, everything could stay the same. With Mercedes, Ferrari and even now Honda ruling out leaping to the powerless Red Bull’s rescue, it appears now that patching up the broken bridges with its French partner is the only […]