Apr.23 (GMM) Mercedes will not react to title rival Ferrari’s engine allocation strategy. In Bahrain, the resurgent Ferrari team fitted the second of four allocated ‘power units’ for the season to Sebastian Vettel’s car. Asked if Mercedes will now follow suit and give its contenders a fresh turbo V6 for Spain, team chairman Niki Lauda […]
Vettel becomes F4 ‘patron’ to back Schumacher son
Apr.23 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has become a patron of this year’s Formula 4 series, the German newspaper Bild reports. The German junior single-seater category kicks off at Oschersleben this weekend. “I know some of the young drivers on the start list,” Ferrari driver Vettel said. All of Vettel’s four titles at Red Bull were won […]
CVC must act amid ‘dangerous’ F1 omens – Montezemolo
Apr.23 (GMM) Former Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo thinks formula one needs to urgently reform. And he said the onus is on the sport’s “owners” – headed by major shareholder CVC – to pull F1 from the brink of a lull that is risking its long-term future. “The owners have to invest, they must set […]
No Red Bull comeback until season end – Marko
Apr.23 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has admitted the Red Bull-funded Austrian grand prix trophy will probably be passed into Mercedes’ hands. The June race at the former A1-Ring, now known as the Red Bull Ring, is promoted by the energy drink company. This week, Red Bull’s Marko and Daniel Ricciardo unveiled the carved wood and […]
Lauda wants Hamilton deal by Spanish GP
Apr.23 (GMM) Yet another deadline is now looming over the finalisation of Lewis Hamilton’s 2016 contract — Barcelona. “Everything will be fixed by the Spanish grand prix on May 10,” Mercedes team chairman Niki Lauda is quoted by the Swiss newspaper Blick. Hamilton’s new deal has been delayed and discussed publicly for so long that […]
Renault is Red Bull’s ‘best chance’ for success
Apr.23 (GMM) Christian Horner on Thursday pinned Red Bull’s hopes on the fate of its current engine supplier. For much of the season so far, the energy drink owned team’s chiefs have been scathing of Renault’s performance. But Red Bull has ruled out building its own engine, apparently failed to woo a Volkswagen brand to […]
Rosberg admits he cannot hide bad moods
Apr.22 (GMM) He is not giving up yet, but Nico Rosberg admits he could not hide his bad mood in Bahrain. A bad qualifying session left him six tenths behind teammate Lewis Hamilton, but German Rosberg appeared to have returned to top form on Sunday with a fighting race punctuated by overtaking moves on Ferraris. […]
Manager guarding Schumacher’s privacy
Apr.22 (GMM) Michael Schumacher’s manager is reportedly working hard to keep news about the health of her famous client quiet. Ever since the F1 legend and seven time world champion was injured in a late 2013 skiing fall, the Schumacher circle has carefully guarded its privacy. Italy’s Autosprint claims this has been especially true over […]
Sauber denies testing new Ferrari engine
Apr.22 (GMM) Sauber has denied it ran Ferrari’s next-specification engine during the 2015 winter test season. Following reports Ferrari is planning to introduce a new specification of its 2015 ‘power unit’ in Canada, Bild newspaper claimed that a Barcelona debut has actually been scheduled for the 20-30 horse power boost. “The new engine was already […]
Hulkenberg not in talks with other teams yet
Apr.22 (GMM) Nico Hulkenberg is settling in at his new “second home”. The German headed straight from Bahrain, where he raced with the struggling Force India team, to a test this week at the wheel of Porsche’s Le Mans prototype. Hulkenberg is splitting his time this year between F1 and a sports car programme, culminating […]
Toro Rosso helping Red Bull to end Renault crisis
Apr.22 (GMM) Red Bull is looking to speed ahead — with the help of its sister team, Renault and an Austrian partner called AVL. Right now, according to Italy’s Omnicorse, a Toro Rosso car is up and running on the sophisticated AVL dynamic test bench in Graz, Austria. It follows a disastrous start to the […]
Stevens deletes ‘ugly’ tweet about Merhi
Apr.22 (GMM) Will Stevens has deleted a tweet described as “ugly” by one well-known Spanish sports daily. After Bahrain, Briton Stevens highlighted the significant gap between his race finishing time and that of his Manor teammate, fellow rookie Roberto Merhi. “Really good race pace today,” Stevens’ ‘tweet’ read, “car felt good and got into a […]
McLaren improvement to be ‘gradual’ – Boullier
Apr.22 (GMM) Fernando Alonso left Bahrain expecting McLaren-Honda to make a “big step” for the start of the forthcoming European season. Having switched from the now-resurgent Ferrari, the Spaniard – as well as fellow champion teammate Jenson Button – have struggled so far in 2015 and are the only drivers except those at Manor yet […]
Raikkonen considered quitting after 2014 – report
Apr.22 (GMM) Kimi Raikkonen considered returning to F1 retirement after his disastrous 2014 season, according to a Spanish sports daily. In Bahrain, the Finn bounced back from a slump by running reigning world champion and championship leader Lewis Hamilton close for victory. It came after an horror 2014 for Raikkonen, who was thrashed by his […]
McLaren ‘on verge of points’ now – Alonso
Apr.21 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says the new McLaren-Honda project is now on the verge of being able to score points. “We did not have a good start to the season,” Yasuhisa Arai, the F1 boss of the struggling Japanese manufacturer Honda, told Speed Week. “The path to the summit is steep. But we have left […]
Maldonado hits back at ‘Crashtor’ reputation
Apr.21 (GMM) Pastor Maldonado has fended off his growing reputation as a crash-prone F1 driver. The Telegraph newspaper said a nickname doing the rounds for the Venezuelan is ‘Crashtor’, while one unflattering website mischievously lists the days and hours since Maldonado’s last crash. “The world is safe for another day,” the website hasmaldonadocrashedtoday.com currently reads. […]
No rest for Manor’s Merhi
Apr.21 (GMM) While the other F1 drivers take a weekend off, there will be no rest for Roberto Merhi. As he has not been signed up for the full F1 season by Manor, the Spaniard will kick off his 2015 campaign in the Formula Renault 3.5 series in Spain this weekend. Beyond that, he knows […]
Leberer plays down Raikkonen incident
Apr.21 (GMM) Josef Leberer has played down suggestions he was almost struck by Kimi Raikkonen’s Ferrari in Bahrain. Finn Raikkonen was given an official reprimand for “dangerous” driving after he dodged around cars at the end of the pitlane during Friday practice. Rumours had swirled in the media centre that Leberer, the well-known Sauber trainer, […]
Kvyat struggling with pressure – Villeneuve
Apr.21 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat is struggling to deal with the pressure of driving for Red Bull. That is the claim of the outspoken 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve. “Last year he did ok at Toro Rosso,” said the French Canadian, “but it was nothing special.” Russian Kvyat, 20, was promoted from the junior team over […]
Arrivabene defends ‘human being’ Vettel
Apr.21 (GMM) The case of Sebastian Vettel shows how quickly things can turn around in formula one. Before Bahrain, the German was the new darling of Ferrari, dubbed ‘Per-vettal’ by the Italian press while teammate Kimi Raikkonen was once again struggling for results. But on Sunday, it was the Finn who pushed Mercedes hard for […]