Mar.22 (GMM) Top team bosses are not confident Formula 1 cars will be screaming with old-school V10 power any time soon. Discussions are clearly taking place behind the scenes about whether the sport should realise the mistake of the radical 2026 engine rules and delay the introduction of the even more electrically-augmented ‘power units’. Then, […]
No quick fix for ‘fundamental’ Haas car flaw
Mar.22 (GMM) Haas’ 2025 car is fundamentally flawed, team boss Ayao Komatsu admits. At the end of 2023, team owner Gene Haas was so unhappy with the small American outfit’s dire performance that he sacked Gunther Steiner and replaced him with senior engineer Komatsu. Haas took a big step forward last year – but have […]
Ferrari, Hamilton ‘above all relieved’ in China – Gene
Mar.22 (GMM) Ferrari, and Lewis Hamilton, are back. “We didn’t expect it at all,” long-time development driver and ambassador Marc Gene told DAZN after witnessing Hamilton win the sprint race from pole in Shanghai. “I wouldn’t have bet a single euro of my own money on it,” he smiled. Indeed, Hamilton trailed teammate Charles Leclerc […]
Retaining Verstappen may be ‘difficult’ – Marko
Mar.22 (GMM) Red Bull will find it “difficult” to keep Max Verstappen if the team can’t reclaim its old winning ways. That’s the frank admission of advisor Dr Helmut Marko, after McLaren CEO Zak Brown admitted to phoning Verstappen’s management whilst predicting a 2026 move to Mercedes for the quadruple world champion. “Apparently he (Brown) […]
Lawson to get one more race to ‘find his rhythm’
Mar.22 (GMM) Red Bull will wait one more race to start getting too worried about Liam Lawson. After a horror opening weekend as Max Verstappen’s teammate in Melbourne, New Zealander Lawson, 23, was dead last in sprint qualifying as the action got going again in China. Red Bull opted for Lawson over Yuki Tsunoda mainly […]
Hulkenberg better than Bottas in ‘driver feedback’
Mar.21 (GMM) Simply changing the driver lineup will eventually pay off in actual laptime, confident Sauber technical boss James Key has declared. Having ousted Guanyu Zhou and Valtteri Bottas in favour of rookie Gabriel Bortoleto and veteran Nico Hulkenberg for 2025, the Audi-owned team got off to a good start in Australia. Throughout most of […]
Todt hopes F1 returns to Russia
Mar.21 (GMM) Former FIA president Jean Todt hopes Russia will return to the Formula 1 calendar. When Haas sacked Nikita Mazepin and his Russian sponsor at the outbreak of the Ukraine crisis in 2022, F1 also unilaterally axed the heavily Vladimir Putin-supported Russian GP at Sochi. At the time, moves were afoot to relocate the […]
Jordan’s friends recall F1 legend’s final days
Mar.21 (GMM) Eddie Jordan clung on to life until the final moments, some of his best friends in Formula 1 have revealed. The iconic former team owner and boss, founder of the Silverstone site that today Aston Martin calls home, left the F1 paddock in shock when his family confirmed he had passed away at […]
‘Common sense’ added to F1 swearing ban – Sainz
Mar.21 (GMM) “Common sense” has been applied to the highly controversial new swearing ban in Formula 1. That’s the view of Carlos Sainz, who in China was asked about reports from Melbourne a week ago that indicated the FIA had backtracked on the harsh clampdown. From Australia onwards, stewards are only going to consider penalties […]
Mini-DRS clampdown about ‘other teams’ – Norris
Mar.21 (GMM) McLaren “could win every race in 2025,” according to Mercedes’ George Russell. Although Max Verstappen finished just behind championship leader Lando Norris in Melbourne, the superiority of the McLaren’s tyre degradation on a drier track was estimated by some to be as much as a full second per lap. Russell thinks McLaren’s current […]
Three rookies under major pressure in China
Mar.21 (GMM) Three F1 rookies have arrived in China with an awful lot of pressure on their shoulders. Max Verstappen’s new teammate, Liam Lawson, had a horror weekend in Australia amid both lagging pace and a crash on Sunday. It prompted McLaren CEO Zak Brown to declare that he thinks Red Bull made a mistake […]
Drivers split over potential V10 comeback
Mar.21 (GMM) Top Formula 1 drivers are split over whether the sport should bring back light, loud, crowd-pleasing V10 engines sooner rather than later. Reports are circulating suggesting Liberty Media, the FIA, and some of the teams are advocating for delaying the all-new engine rules for 2026 in order to accelerate the return of normally-aspirated […]
Verstappen’s father accuses McLaren CEO of ‘stirring’
Mar.20 (GMM) Max Verstappen’s father has accused McLaren CEO Zak Brown of trying to “stir sh*it”. In a new interview with London’s Telegraph newspaper, Brown admitted that he thinks the quadruple world champion will leave Red Bull at the end of the year. “Most likely to Merc,” said the American, referring to Mercedes. “There’s been […]
Doohan has Alpine’s ‘full support’ – Oakes
Mar.20 (GMM) Alpine boss Oliver Oakes has defended the team’s decision to sign no fewer than four reserve drivers for 2025. The pressure on rookie Jack Doohan’s shoulders at present is at fever-pitch, with team advisor Flavio Briatore clearly lining up Franco Colapinto to take over the race seat sooner or later. “I have one […]
Sponsor says Perez was ‘no longer comfortable’
Mar.20 (GMM) Sergio Perez “no longer felt comfortable” at Red Bull, but he could return to Formula 1. That is the claim of Jimmy Morales, head of the Carlos Slim-founded sponsorship program Escuderia Telmex Telcel, which was instrumental in funding the Mexican driver’s career. Telmex-related Latin American brands are now missing from Red Bull’s livery […]
Ferrari working to fix simulator data flaw
Mar.20 (GMM) Ferrari has been hard at work in the Maranello simulator to fix a flaw that reportedly led to an inappropriate setup baseline in Melbourne, according to Italy’s La Repubblica. All the pre-season hype of a potential world championship challenge for Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc fizzled last weekend as the 2025 season began […]
F1 considering scrapping 2026 engine revolution
Mar.20 (GMM) Formula 1 is considering a plan to bring ‘green’ normally-aspirated V10 engines back to the grid sooner than was ever anticipated. Next year, the sport is scheduled to put its current 2014-2025 ‘hybrid power unit’ era in the past with a move to even heavier and more electrified turbo V6 engines. However, driven […]
F1 teams, Pirelli, race against delays in China
Mar.20 (GMM) Formula 1’s hectic travel schedule is already causing problems in 2025, with multiple top teams receiving delivery of their cars and equipment late in Shanghai. Mere days exist between the opening Melbourne-China double-header, meaning a single cargo plane holdup left McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes, Williams and Aston Martin mechanics with little to do […]
Cadillac boss reveals ‘intense’ F1 ‘pressure’
Mar.19 (GMM) With Cadillac’s 2026 entry now set in stone, complete with Dan Towriss’ signature on the new Concorde Agreement, the project head has opened up about the “intense” process. Amid fierce opposition from F1 owner Liberty Media and the existing ten teams, the initially FIA-approved Andretti team project became mired in a political struggle […]
Replacing Perez with Lawson still ‘right choice’
Mar.19 (GMM) The jury is out as to whether Red Bull has fudged its driver choice for 2025. Having lost the constructors’ championship last year due to Sergio Perez’s ongoing lag behind Max Verstappen, the team weighed up between Yuki Tsunoda and Liam Lawson – and opted for the latter. Given that Tsunoda was closer […]