Mar.31 (GMM) Fernando Alonso is sitting out the Bahrain grand prix with broken ribs and after suffering a partially collapsed lung. The Spaniard made the revelation on Thursday, after FIA doctors studied CT scans and ordered him out of the McLaren-Honda this weekend. Alonso told reporters he suffered a “pneumothorax”, or partially collapsed lung, due […]
Month: March 2016
Verstappen ‘moves on’ after Melbourne anger
Mar.31 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he has “moved on” after losing his cool at the Australian grand prix. The 18-year-old, who made expletive-filled radio calls to the Toro Rosso pitwall in Melbourne, was furious about a bungled pitstop and being stuck behind teammate Carlos Sainz. “I have never seen Max as angry as he was […]
Local official says Monza ‘will be saved’
Mar.31 (GMM) A local sports official is confident Monza will secure its place on the F1 calendar for 2017 and beyond. Negotiations between Bernie Ecclestone and race organisers are ongoing and reportedly troubled, but Oreste Perri, president of Lombardy’s Olympic committee, is upbeat. “Just now I spoke with my delegate of Monza and he told […]
Todt also responded to GPDA letter
Mar.31 (GMM) FIA president Jean Todt also responded to the F1 drivers’ public complaint about the sport’s current governance. Just after the 2016 season opener, the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) revealed an open letter to F1 “stakeholders” expressing formal concern about recent decisions made on the sporting, technical and business sides. F1 supremo Bernie […]
Drivers eye spot on F1 Commission
Mar.31 (GMM) F1 drivers may be angling for a spot on the sport’s decision-making body. Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA) chief Alex Wurz has been coy when asked what the next step – like race boycotts – might be after the revelation of the highly-critical open letter about F1’s governance. The active drivers in the […]
Four teams rejected qualifying compromise
Mar.31 (GMM) McLaren and Red Bull were not the only teams that objected to the tweaking of the highly-controversial ‘musical chairs’ qualifying system for Bahrain. We reported on Wednesday that because those two teams rejected the FIA’s proposal to tweak only the ‘Q3’ segment after the farcical debut in Melbourne, the sport is stuck with […]
Ferrari have tyre advantage for Bahrain – Surer
Mar.31 (GMM) Mercedes might have made a tactical blunder in its preparation for this weekend’s Bahrain grand prix. That is the view of former F1 driver turned German-language pundit Marc Surer, after Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel almost beat the silver cars two weeks ago in Australia. Now, Mercedes is expecting another tough battle in Bahrain. “Ferrari […]
Raikkonen engine survived Melbourne fire
Mar.31 (GMM) More reports claim Kimi Raikkonen’s power unit has survived his fiery exit from the Australian grand prix. The Finn retired in the pitlane as a marshal shot fire extinguisher fluid into his flaming airbox, but Italy’s Autosprint said Ferrari was always confident the actual engine would survive. “If we had seen on the […]
Merhi still not ruling out F1 return
Mar.31 (GMM) Roberto Merhi will complete the revival of the former Manor team in the world endurance championship this year. With founders John Booth and Graeme Lowdon having left the F1 team that still bears the Manor name at the end of last year, 2015 driver Will Stevens was signed up to join them with […]
F1 teams already looking towards 2017
Mar.31 (GMM) F1 teams will now begin to turn their focus towards designing a car for the all-new technical regulations of 2017. While April 30 is the actual deadline for the new rules, it is now essentially clear that F1 will speed up substantially next year with a blueprint for wider cars and tyres. “Before […]
Alonso fails medical exam in Bahrain
Mar.31 (GMM) Fernando Alonso will miss this weekend’s Bahrain grand prix. Although the Spaniard made the trip to the island Kingdom in the wake of his horror crash in Melbourne, his clearance to return to the cockpit depended on a meeting with FIA doctors on Thursday. After that examination, while Alonso told reporters he feels […]
Early 2016 win ‘very important’ – Rosberg
Mar.31 (GMM) Nico Rosberg has admitted that opening his 2016 championship campaign with a win was “very important”. The German has been beaten to the last two titles consecutively by his Mercedes teammate Lewis Hamilton, but kicked off a run of winning form late last year that continued into Melbourne. Australia was actually his fourth […]
McLaren plays down ‘broken’ seat reports
Mar.30 (GMM) McLaren has played down reports Fernando Alonso’s carbon seat was ‘broken’ in his high-speed Melbourne crash. We reported this week that amid claims the seat was broken amid the 46G forces, the FIA had launched an investigation so as to learn from the incident. “Yes, it (the seat) was cracked but not broken, […]
McLaren, Red Bull opposed ‘musical chairs’ tweak
Mar.30 (GMM) The lack of time and unanimity means F1 is stuck with the hated ‘musical chairs’ qualifying system for Bahrain. Mercedes’ Toto Wolff, who like most other stakeholders declared the new 90 second countdown system “rubbish” after its farcical debut in Australia, sounded exasperated on Tuesday when faced with the prospect of a repeat […]
FIA doctors must green-light Alonso return
Mar.30 (GMM) Fernando Alonso will not be cleared to race in Bahrain this weekend until a meeting with FIA doctors on Thursday. Following the Spaniard’s terrifying high-speed crash in Melbourne, Alonso hinted on social media that he has been unable to train this week due to the effects. And a report in the Spanish sports […]
Allison takes break after death of wife
Mar.30 (GMM) James Allison is spending some time away from formula one as he mourns the recent death of his wife, it has emerged. On his wife Rebecca’s Facebook page, the 48-year-old Briton confirmed to friends and family last week that she died suddenly from meningitis. “We at Ferrari are united with him and his […]
Stewart says F1 ‘not in crisis’
Mar.30 (GMM) F1 legend Sir Jackie Stewart has played down suggestions the sport he has been involved with for over five decades is broken. “Look, everyone only sees the bad,” the triple world champion told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport. “I have to say the field is too far apart — there is too little […]
Gold Coast eyes future Australian GP
Mar.29 (GMM) Queensland has flagged a potential bid to poach the Australian grand prix from rival state Victoria, the current host of the F1 season opener in Melbourne. In recent times, it has been New South Wales looking to steal Melbourne’s thunder by proposing a race in famous Australian city Sydney. But Queensland’s major events […]
Letter not just about qualifying – Wurz
Mar.29 (GMM) Alex Wurz insists the dissenting letter written on behalf of the current F1 drivers is not a mere reaction to the qualifying format debacle. Through the Wurz-led Grand Prix Drivers’ Association (GPDA), the drivers hit out at the sport’s current governance last week hot on the heels of the farcical ‘musical chairs’ debut […]
Preferred successor Briatore ruled out – Ecclestone
Mar.29 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone has revealed that “blocks” have been placed on his preferred successor. The apparent lack of a succession plan for the 85-year-old Briton has long been an issue, but supremo Ecclestone says his main suggestions were “thrown out”. “There are a million people who think they can do it, but it is […]