Dec.9 (GMM) McLaren staff have had lessons in Japanese culture as the struggling team gets up to speed with works Honda power. The Anglo-Japanese collaboration endured an abysmal 2015 campaign, with the bulk of the blame falling to Honda as it grapples with F1’s complex ‘power unit’ era. But another problem, champion driver Jenson Button […]
Month: December 2015
Pundits slam Hamilton for late-season behaviour
Dec.9 (GMM) 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve has slammed Lewis Hamilton for his behaviour since winning the world championship in October. After wrapping up the title, Hamilton’s earlier-dominant form mysteriously slumped just as teammate Nico Rosberg’s surged. Also obviously slumping, however, was the Briton’s mood, former Williams driver and now television pundit Villeneuve claims. “Maybe […]
Toro Rosso backs Sainz amid Verstappen hype
Dec.9 (GMM) Team boss Franz Tost says it is not fair to judge Carlos Sainz’s F1 debut simply by looking at his points tally. Indeed, while many agree that the 21-year-old had a good first season in 2015, he ended the year with much less than half the points scored by his teammate Max Verstappen, […]
Ecclestone thinks Todt should ‘step back’ from F1
Dec.9 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone thinks FIA president Jean Todt should step back from the front line in formula one. According to the BBC, an increasingly alarmed F1 supremo told the World Motor Sport Council last week that he believes the sport is “in crisis”. “Television audiences are down”, Ecclestone is reported as having informed the […]
Mercedes ‘spy’ Hoyle not joining Ferrari
Dec.9 (GMM) Ferrari has played down reports it has signed up F1’s latest alleged espionage protagonist. Bloomberg news agency revealed on Tuesday that Mercedes is suing a power unit engineer Benjamin Hoyle after he allegedly copied confidential data ahead of his move to Ferrari in 2016. But Omnicorse, a specialist Italian publication, quoted Ferrari sources […]
Canada GP promoter admits late to pay suppliers
Dec.9 (GMM) The promoter of the popular Canadian grand prix has fallen behind in payments to suppliers, according to the Quebec newspaper La Presse. “It’s true. I confirm it,” said Francois Dumontier, the president and sole shareholder of the race promoter Octane Racing Group. Dumontier secured the future of the Montreal race, held at Circuit […]
Horner predicts more Mercedes dominance in 2016
Dec.9 (GMM) Christian Horner has predicted another year on top for Mercedes in 2016. That is despite the fact the Red Bull chief thinks the actual chassis produced by the premier energy drink-owned team is perhaps a match for the silver machine. “We can see the wing settings and the cornering speeds and we are […]
Perez tips Haas to challenge Force India
Dec.8 (GMM) Sergio Perez has backed Force India to rise to the “huge task” of continuing to raise its game in formula one. Teammate Nico Hulkenberg may have been the high-profile Le Mans winner, but it was Mexican Perez who shone the brightest in 2015 for the Silverstone based team. Force India finished the championship […]
Sabbatical not right for Alonso – Hakkinen
Dec.8 (GMM) Lowering his guard and taking a sabbatical amid McLaren-Honda’s troubles would not be the right move for Fernando Alonso. That is the advice of fellow former double world champion Mika Hakkinen, whose own one-year sabbatical in 2002 ultimately became full retirement from F1 before he reached his mid-30s. “Personally, I was able to […]
Hamilton seat not in doubt over lifestyle – Wolff
Dec.8 (GMM) Toto Wolff has rubbished reports it could be Lewis Hamilton’s off-track lifestyle that costs the triple world champion his seat at Mercedes. The team boss warned after the Abu Dhabi finale recently that the constant bickering and ill-feeling between Hamilton and teammate Nico Rosberg either stops or the team will have to rethink […]
Bottas ‘not very happy’ with 2015 season
Dec.8 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas admits he is “not very happy” with his 2015 season. In the end, the Finn out-scored his Williams teammate Felipe Massa for the second year running, but many believe it was the back-in-form Brazilian’s performance alongside Bottas that deterred Ferrari from signing him up. “I was not very happy with my […]
Jordan backs Ecclestone, Brundle backs BBC
Dec.8 (GMM) Eddie Jordan has backed Bernie Ecclestone’s view that formula one should usher an independent engine supplier onto the grid. Even though the F1 Commission derailed the supremo’s plan for ‘parallel’ engine rules recently, Ecclestone is still warning that the current situation – with Mercedes and Ferrari wielding enormous power – must change. “This […]
Briatore denies Alonso to Renault rumours
Dec.8 (GMM) Flavio Briatore has dismissed suggestions Fernando Alonso might be considering a sensational return to lead Renault’s latest works effort in F1. The Enstone based team Lotus has already announced its driver lineup for 2016, with the heavily sponsor-backed Pastor Maldonado and Jolyon Palmer all signed up. But that team has subsequently been bought […]
Mercedes sues F1 engineer for espionage
Dec.8 (GMM) World champion team Mercedes on Tuesday confirmed reports it is suing an engineer. The Bloomberg news agency claimed the engineer Benjamin Hoyle, working for the German marque’s F1 engine facility, took documents and data as he prepared to move to Ferrari. Hoyle, who intends to join Ferrari after December, saved a 2015 Hungarian […]
Organiser denies 2016 Russia GP in doubt
Dec.7 (GMM) The future of the Russian grand prix is secure, race organiser Sergei Vorobyov insists. “The F1 round at Sochi is (secure) for many years to come and we know this for sure,” he told the government-linked Russian news agency Tass. His comments follow local Krasnodar deputy governor Igor Galas having told the business […]
Vettel not taking bait after Hamilton comments
Dec.7 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel has declined to hit back with fury at Lewis Hamilton’s recent jibe about his talent. The new triple world champion recently said that because Vettel’s teammates Mark Webber and Kimi Raikkonen were and are not at their peak, “It’s difficult to assess how good he really is”. When asked about Hamilton’s […]
Rosberg donates EUR 100,000 to charity
Dec.7 (GMM) Nico Rosberg has donated EUR 100,000 to charity. Recently, the Mercedes driver sold the first family photographs of himself, his wife Vivian and his new baby daughter Alaia to the German newspaper Bild. He has now pledged that 100,000 euros to the Bild-linked ‘Herz fur Kinder’ (Heart for Children) charity, aiding sick children. […]
Alonso sure sabbatical rumours to continue
Dec.7 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he will be on the grid in 2016. McLaren supremo Ron Dennis caused a stir at the Abu Dhabi season finale recently when he hinted Spaniard Alonso, arguably the best and highest paid driver in F1, might not return next year if the Honda-powered car is not up to speed. […]
Rosberg welcomes new tyre rules
Dec.7 (GMM) Nico Rosberg has welcomed the tyre-usage rule changes in formula one for 2016. The governing FIA and Pirelli announced last week that teams and drivers will get more freedom next year, as the range of different tyre compounds available at each grand prix is increased from two to three. The details of the […]
Boss says Hamilton ‘not irreplaceable’
Dec.7 (GMM) An unnamed team boss thinks Mercedes could seriously consider dropping Lewis Hamilton. The German team’s chief, Toto Wolff, warned dramatically after Hamilton won the 2015 title that, for the sake of harmony, the bitterness of the feud between the British driver and his teammate Nico Rosberg must stop. It also followed Hamilton’s sudden […]