Apr.11 (GMM) Niki Lauda thinks F1 is heading for a season-long battle between Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel. For the first time in the ‘power unit’ era, Mercedes has a genuine championship challenger this year in the form of a resurgent Ferrari. Hamilton and Vettel have each won a race and finished second so far, […]
Month: April 2017
FIA may clarify grid position rules – Salo
Apr.11 (GMM) F1 could introduce a rule clarification after Sebastian Vettel started Sunday’s Chinese grand prix out of position. Officials “noted” but did not penalise the Ferrari driver for being left of his painted grid ‘box’ in Shanghai. “I didn’t want to be on the line on the wet track, and there is nothing in […]
‘Key figure’ in Ferrari surge is Binotto – Lauda
Apr.10 (GMM) Niki Lauda has credited Ferrari’s technical boss for the boost in performance enjoyed by the Italian team in 2017. Earlier, the F1 legend and Mercedes team chairman said Ferrari’s recent slump was because it was relying too heavily on haphazard Italian engineers. Told that the fact Mattia Binotto is now in charge of […]
Ferrari criticises Raikkonen after China
Apr.10 (GMM) Ferrari has openly criticised Kimi Raikkonen after Sunday’s Chinese grand prix. The Italian marque was not alone. The influential sports daily La Gazzetta dello Sport said after Shanghai that the difference between Raikkonen and his teammate Sebastian Vettel was the latter’s overtakes. “Kimi never even tried,” it noted. But the criticism went all […]
Wehrlein heading for Bahrain comeback – Wolff
Apr.10 (GMM) Pascal Wehrlein is shaping up to make his return to the Sauber cockpit in Bahrain. That is the view of one of his bosses, Mercedes chief Toto Wolff. Currently, German Wehrlein is reportedly recovering his fitness after injuring his back in a race of champions crash in the winter. In China, Wolff denied […]
McLaren ‘faster in corners than Williams’ – Vandoorne
Apr.10 (GMM) Stoffel Vandoorne has isolated Honda amid McLaren’s current performance crisis. His teammate Fernando Alonso joked in China that his surprisingly strong performance in both qualifying and the race was with “divine” involvement, due to the extreme lack of power from the Japanese-made power unit. Belgian Vandoorne concurs: “The car feels pretty good. “When […]
F1 ‘passing problem’ smaller after China
Apr.10 (GMM) The ‘overtaking problem’ with F1’s faster new cars took a back seat in Shanghai. After Melbourne, the paddock collectively worried that while the new cars are faster and more spectacular, the greater aerodynamic drag makes passing significantly rarer. But the overtaking on Sunday was spectacular, featuring Max Verstappen and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel in […]
Pundit questions Ferrari wing ‘flex’
Apr.10 (GMM) Former F1 driver Christian Danner has raised doubts about the legality of Ferrari’s 2017 car. The Maranello team is raising eyebrows for the step it has managed to take since last year, powering Sebastian Vettel to the joint lead in the championship after two races. But on-board camera footage of the red racer […]
Horner wants clarity over Vettel grid start
Apr.10 (GMM) Christian Horner has called on F1’s governing body to clarify the rule about where drivers need to start grands prix. Race officials merely “noted” but did not penalise the Ferrari driver for being left of his painted grid ‘box’ at the start of the Chinese grand prix. “I can understand what Seb wanted […]
Hamilton predicts ‘closest’ fight with Vettel
Apr.10 (GMM) F1 heads to the third race of the season with a genuine championship battle between Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel now shaping up. The pair have each won a grand prix and finished second so far in 2017, with one analysis saying the Ferrari is better in warmer conditions while the […]
No engine improvement date set – Honda
Apr.9 (GMM) Honda is still not promising when it will be able to substantially fix its badly struggling 2017 engine. As it emerges McLaren boss Eric Boullier met with Mercedes’ Andy Cowell in Shanghai, Honda was left to admit that the British team’s biggest problem is the power unit it is supplying. But earlier in […]
FIA moves to stop ‘T-wing’ flexing
Apr.9 (GMM) The FIA has targeted the unpopular engine cover ‘T-wings’ and fins, with a view to ridding F1 of them in the future. That plan is also backed by new F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn. And their resolve was given more ammunition in Shanghai, when the ‘T-wing’ on Valtteri Bottas’ Mercedes broke off in […]
Red Bull gap not easy to close – Verstappen
Apr.9 (GMM) Red Bull’s drivers admit it will take time for the team to get close to the top two teams in 2017. If the pecking order was unclear after Melbourne, the 1.5 second gap from the new Red Bull to the much-faster Mercedes and Ferrari is now fairly obvious in China. But the biggest […]
Title contenders admit Mercedes, Ferrari close
Apr.9 (GMM) 2017 title contenders Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel have admitted the performance of their respective cars is genuinely close. For the first time in the ‘power unit’ era, Mercedes has a genuine rival for world championship spoils in the form of Ferrari. Ferrari’s Vettel won in Australia but Hamilton put his Mercedes back […]
Prost doubts Rosberg will return
Apr.9 (GMM) F1 legend Alain Prost doubts Nico Rosberg will ever return to formula one. Prost, a quadruple world champion, actually made two comebacks after ‘retiring’: once in 1993 after a season out, and again in 1997 when he bought the Ligier team and returned as a team owner. “That is something completely different,” the […]
Kaltenborn disputes Wehrlein injury reports
Apr.9 (GMM) Monisha Kaltenborn has taken issue with fellow F1 boss Toto Wolff’s description of Pascal Wehrlein’s injury. German Wehrlein drives for Sauber, but he remains managed by Wolff’s Mercedes development programme. So while the 22-year-old regains his fitness following a winter back injury, a frenzy of speculation surrounds exactly what is behind Wehrlein’s layoff. […]
Prost relishing Renault advisor role
Apr.9 (GMM) Alain Prost says he is working hard to help the works Renault team make progress in F1. The French carmaker had a difficult return to full works status last year, but Nico Hulkenberg has been recruited as the top driver while F1 legend Prost is now an official advisor. German Hulkenberg qualified a […]
Hamilton doesn’t want Alonso as teammate
Apr.9 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has given a strong sign that he doesn’t want to share a garage with Fernando Alonso. Actually, the pair were teammates when Hamilton was a rookie and Alonso was the reigning champion in 2007, but it soon turned to acrimony. But now, Spaniard Alonso is almost certainly on the market for […]
Wehrlein hopes for Bahrain return
Apr.8 (GMM) Sauber driver Pascal Wehrlein says he is hopeful he will be fit enough to race in Bahrain next weekend. The German is not in China at all, after he sat out the season opening Australian grand prix with a lack of fitness. Wehrlein’s absence triggered wild speculation that the 22-year-old is either more […]
China GP almost rescheduled – steward
Apr.8 (GMM) F1 steward Mika Salo has revealed the decision was almost taken to reschedule the Chinese grand prix. After weather issues badly affected Friday practice, and with more low cloud forecast for Sunday, one proposal was to stage both qualifying and the race on Saturday. “That the race would be moved to Saturday was […]