Mar.5 (GMM) Giedo van der Garde has commenced legal action in Australia as he bids to force Sauber to let him race next weekend. The Dutchman spent 2014 as the Swiss team’s reserve, but when Felipe Nasr and Marcus Ericsson were named as the race drivers for 2015, van der Garde claimed he had been […]
Ecclestone wants ‘glamorous ladies’ on grid
Mar.5 (GMM) A letter to Cyril Abiteboul has revealed the grid strategy of F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone. A photo of the signed document emerged on social media on Wednesday, dating back to 2013, when Frenchman Abiteboul was boss of Caterham. It reads: “Dear Cyril. “Please be reminded that where possible, grid access passes should be […]
Mercedes still ‘hungry’ for titles – Zetsche
Mar.5 (GMM) Mercedes remains “hungry” for F1 success in 2015, the German carmaker’s chief executive Dieter Zetsche insists. “We are hungry and not yet satisfied,” he reportedly said at the Geneva Motor Show, echoing team boss Toto Wolff’s claim that Mercedes wants to prove it is in Ferrari and Red Bull’s league by winning multiple […]
2015 Pirelli tyres ‘not spectacular’ – Hamilton
Mar.5 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has admitted his ongoing concerns about Pirelli’s F1 tyres. In 2013, drivers were bemoaning the quality and high degradation of the Italian supplier’s product, but last year Pirelli was accused of being too conservative. In pre-season testing, however, the cars of 2015 have proved significantly quicker than last year. “We’ve seen […]
McLaren doctor stopped Hakkinen return
Mar.5 (GMM) Not one but two potential comebacks for double world champion Mika Hakkinen never transpired. It was already known that, three years after his 2001 retirement, the Finn was linked with a return to formula one with Williams. But now it emerges that McLaren, for whom the now 46-year-old competed so successfully between 1993 […]
Williams expecting fight with Ferrari
Mar.5 (GMM) A close group of challengers is forming up behind dominant Mercedes ahead of the 2015 season. Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne this week revealed he thinks the team’s new SF15-T is now “on par” with Red Bull, the 2014 runner-up. But also in that battle, it seems, is Williams, who ended last season with […]
Doctors ‘wise’ to sideline Alonso – Tambay
Mar.4 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he can “understand” why he has been sidelined for the Australian grand prix. McLaren on Tuesday announced that, on the advice of the Spaniard’s doctors, the risk of ‘second impact syndrome’ means the 33-year-old will sit out the first race of the new Honda-powered era. “It will be tough not […]
Red Bull eyes RB11 nose-job for Melbourne
Mar.4 (GMM) Red Bull is scrambling to give its 2015 car a nose-job before its Melbourne race debut next weekend. Unlike most of the other major teams, the 2014 runner-ups ran in Barcelona for the final winter test last week with only minor upgrades for its RB11. Auto Motor und Sport reports: “The planned major […]
Former F1 driver says Alonso took ‘600 watt hit’
Mar.4 (GMM) Officially, a gust of wind blew Fernando Alonso off the track on February 22, resulting in a concussion that has sidelined him for Melbourne. Unofficially, rumours and doubt are running wild. Sky Italia, the F1 broadcaster, claims the Spanish driver has confided to close friends and family that he suffered a “major shock […]
Alonso now preparing for Malaysia return
Mar.4 (GMM) Fernando Alonso has returned to physical training in preparation for the start of his 2015 race campaign in Malaysia. The Spaniard is sitting out the Melbourne opener next weekend as he waits out a precautionary 21-day period to prevent the potentially fatal, post-concussion ‘second impact syndrome’. What is becoming clear is that what […]
Force India admits Q2 ‘difficult’ for Melbourne
Mar.4 (GMM) Force India is expecting to be near the back of the grid at next weekend’s Melbourne season opener. Due to cash-flow and supplier trouble, the Silverstone based team’s 2015 car was severely delayed, only making its debut at the final winter test last week. Force India finished the 2014 season a strong sixth […]
New cloud forms over Russian GP
Mar.4 (GMM) A new cloud may be descending over the Russian grand prix. Last year, although the Sochi race did take place, swirling speculation had suggested it was in doubt due to the Crimean crisis and the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster. Now, Russian grand prix promoter OJSC Center Omega has cancelled the Sochi Autodrom’s scheduled […]
Brundle questions ‘very strange’ Alonso saga
Mar.4 (GMM) The world of F1 has been split down the middle by the Fernando Alonso crash saga. In one camp are those who back the official story, believing McLaren-Honda that a gust of wind blew him off the Barcelona circuit and that the subsequent impact with the wall knocked him out. But arguably the […]
Other sports ‘inspire’ Germans more than F1 – Wolff
Mar.3 (GMM) Formula one has taken a back seat in Germany, Toto Wolff has admitted. Days ago, the Mercedes team boss said he would “try” to save the country’s endangered grand prix, as promoters and Bernie Ecclestone reach the eleventh hour in their negotiations over a commercial contract for 2015. “The problems are all home-made,” […]
Female F1 driver Jorda slams ‘jealous’ rivals
Mar.3 (GMM) F1’s new female signing has hit back at her harshest critics. Although she finished last year’s GP3 season just 29th overall, 26-year-old Spaniard Carmen Jorda has been signed up as a development driver by Lotus. Some of her former on-track rivals were unimpressed with the news, suggesting it was more about her gender, […]
‘Healthy’ Alonso to miss Melbourne opener – McLaren
Mar.3 (GMM) Fernando Alonso will sit out next weekend’s Australian grand prix. McLaren announced the news on Tuesday, despite insisting the Spaniard has been checked by doctors in the wake of his Barcelona testing crash and four days in hospital. The doctors found Alonso “asymptomatic of any medical issue,” McLaren said in a media statement, […]
Ferrari ‘on par’ with Red Bull – Marchionne
Mar.3 (GMM) Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne on Tuesday admitted the Maranello team might have to wait for its next F1 title. “2018? Absolutely, but we will try to do it a little before,” he smiled at the Geneva Motor Show, according to Italian media reports. Ferrari has emerged from the chaos of 2014 with a […]
Test cameras to fix regulations ‘flaw’ – report
Mar.3 (GMM) F1 looks set to fix what one publication insists is an obvious “flaw” in the current regulations. Article 27.2 of the rules dictates that cars must be fitted with a crash ‘black box’ at all times, in order to collect data “relevant to an accident or incident”. “At any time following an accident […]
Wolff says F1 ‘shark tank’ alive and well
Mar.3 (GMM) F1 as a ruthless ‘shark tank’ is alive and well, according to Toto Wolff. The Mercedes chief, however, undoubtedly plays the role of one of the sharks, particularly when it comes to the FIA’s recent McKinsey report that showed costs for the struggling smallest teams could be effectively halved. Wolff told Germany’s Sky […]
McLaren-Honda and Alonso will win together – Berger
Mar.3 (GMM) Gerhard Berger has played down McLaren-Honda’s testing troubles, insisting the historic pairing will win championships again. The Austrian great knows McLaren-Honda well, as he was famously paired with Ayrton Senna between 1990 and 1992. Firstly, he tipped Fernando Alonso to bounce back from his testing crash and eventually win titles for McLaren-Honda. “Fernando […]