May 15 (GMM) The news filtering out from Thursday’s landmark meeting of the Strategy Group is not encouraging. Amid the sport’s reported problems and widespread calls for change, F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone was not confident as the stakeholders headed for his facility at the Biggin Hill airport in England. “We will spend four or five […]
Ecclestone ‘will be replaced’ – Stewart
May 15 (GMM) Fernando Alonso, who tested Ayrton Senna’s old 1988 car recently, said this week he wishes he had raced in that era. “The cars were more racy,” said the McLaren driver, “with big tyres, big engines and not many limitations in terms of creativity for the designers.” F1 legend and triple world champion […]
Toro Rosso plays down Renault team takeover
May 14 (GMM) Toro Rosso chief Franz Tost has played down the chances of a team takeover by Renault. Earlier this year, at the height of Red Bull’s public spat with the French carmaker, it seemed inevitable that Renault was going to either buy and rebrand the junior outfit Toro Rosso, or quit formula one […]
Hakkinen understands Mercedes ‘team order’
May 14 (GMM) Mika Hakkinen says he can understand why Mercedes issued a ‘team order’ towards the end of the Spanish grand prix. After the Barcelona race, championship leader Lewis Hamilton claimed he “ignored” his team’s advice to bring the car home rather than try to chase down teammate Nico Rosberg. “I’m here to race, […]
Secret F1 income payment system leaked
May 14 (GMM) Ahead of a crucial meeting about F1’s future on Thursday, the inequality of the sport’s secret payments system has been exposed. According to The Times newspaper, the revealed figures will put Bernie Ecclestone “under severe pressure” to scrap the system that saw Ferrari receive from the commercial rights holders $37 million more […]
Managers want Bottas to be champion – Hakkinen
May 14 (GMM) Mika Hakkinen says he does not want to add more fuel to the rumours surrounding Valtteri Bottas. In Barcelona, the Williams driver had to address speculation he has been targeted as a potential Ferrari star of the future. Also making comments over the Spanish grand prix weekend was Didier Coton, Bottas’ day-to-day […]
Honda to use engine ‘tokens’ mid-season
May 14 (GMM) Honda will “soon” begin to spend its tokens to improve the performance of its F1 engine. To date, improvements made to the Japanese marque’s ‘power unit’ have been for reliability purposes. It means that McLaren’s works supplier still has in its possession the 9 ‘tokens’ it was awarded at the beginning of […]
Ferrari quietly extends Marlboro deal
May 14 (GMM) Tobacco giant Philip Morris has quietly extended its sponsorship deal with Ferrari, the Bloomberg news agency reports. Even though the red F1 cars can no longer display a ‘Marlboro’ livery, or even include the cigarette brand’s name in Ferrari’s official title, the deal was reportedly extended for another three years. Bloomberg said […]
Nasr says no Sauber upgrades yet
May 14 (GMM) Felipe Nasr is expecting Sauber to suffer at the next few races. Early in 2015, the Brazilian rookie emerged as a potential star of the future, finishing fifth in Australia and scoring more points in China. But Nasr, 22, warned before the Spanish grand prix – where he qualified 15th – that […]
Sainz happy to survive Verstappen hype
May 14 (GMM) According to some, Carlos Sainz has been the ‘revelation of the season’. The build-up to the Spaniard’s debut season in formula one was totally overshadowed by Max Verstappen, who at 17 is the youngest driver in F1 history and already compared by some to the great Ayrton Senna. But Sainz, the ‘other’ […]
Ferrari exit ‘unavoidable’ for Alonso
May 14 (GMM) Luca di Montezemolo has backed away from his earlier criticism of Ferrari. The former Ferrari president’s claim that the Maranello team was “lucky” in 2015 had triggered renewed suggestions he is simply bitter about his ousting. “I’m tired of all this,” he was quoted by Ansa news agency on Wednesday. “All I […]
Massa wants more test freedom in F1
May 14 (GMM) Felipe Massa would prefer if teams were given more freedom to decide their in-season testing plans. For cost reasons, there are now only two official group tests within the annual race calendar — immediately after the Spanish and Austrian grands prix. The two-day Barcelona session, attended by Brazilian Massa, has just ended. […]
Renault admits ‘something wrong’ at factory
May 14 (GMM) Renault has admitted there is “something wrong” at its Viry-Chattilon base. The French marque is struggling to get to the bottom of a fundamental problem in the area of its piston design that has led to multiple failures in 2015. “On the dyno the engines are reliable,” chief Cyril Abiteboul said, “but […]
Marko denies making Audi ultimatum
May 13 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has hit back at reports he issued a new ultimatum about Red Bull’s involvement in formula one. The BBC on Monday quoted the Austrian as declaring: “If we don’t have a competitive engine in the near future, then either Audi is coming or we are out.” But Marko now […]
Marko’s ‘exceptional juniors’ pile pressure on Kvyat
May 13 (GMM) Toro Rosso’s “exceptional” drivers are free to race their counterparts in the senior Red Bull team. That is the news of Dr Helmut Marko, the infamous boss of the energy drink company’s F1 driver programme. The senior team, headed in the cockpit by Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat, is in a deep […]
Gutierrez ‘had meeting’ with Haas – report
May 13 (GMM) Esteban Gutierrez appears to be in pole position to head the new Haas team’s driver lineup next year. According to Italy’s Autosprint, the Mexican had a “long meeting” with the incoming American team’s owner Gene Haas over the course of the Spanish grand prix weekend. Haas, also a Nascar team co-owner, was […]
CVC’s Mackenzie to attend crucial F1 summit
May 13 (GMM) Even the normally low-profile Donald Mackenzie and Jean Todt are looking ahead to Thursday’s critical meeting of the powerful Strategy Group. Faced with the sport’s stakeholders baying collectively for urgent change, all of the most influential F1 figures will get together on Thursday at F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone’s airport facility at Biggin […]
‘No problem’ between Lotus duo – Maldonado
May 13 (GMM) Pastor Maldonado has not ramped up the tension with his teammate Romain Grosjean. In Barcelona, it emerged that tension between the pair was growing over the ‘Friday practice’ issue, as it is always Grosjean who is giving up his cockpit for reserve Jolyon Palmer. The strongly PDVSA-backed Maldonado has reportedly refused to […]
Michelin pushing for F1 return
May 13 (GMM) Michelin has confirmed its interest in returning to formula one. Italy’s Autosprint reported that the former F1 tyre supplier could go head-to-head with Pirelli in the forthcoming tender process to become the sport’s official partner from 2017. As the ‘tyre war’ era ended at the end of 2006, and also due to […]
Rosberg happy if Hamilton signs new deal
May 13 (GMM) Nico Rosberg says he is happy if Lewis Hamilton stays at Mercedes beyond 2015. After a long period of negotiation and speculation, the latest reports suggest reigning world champion Hamilton’s new contract will finally be unveiled in Monaco. But “I don’t know what will happen,” Italy’s Autosprint quoted Rosberg as saying at […]