Dec.16 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel says he is not yet seriously considering his retirement from F1. The quadruple world champion is under huge pressure at Ferrari, with his young teammate Charles Leclerc clearly a driver of the future and Vettel’s contract expiring next year. 32-year-old Vettel also admits that his 2019 season was not good enough. […]
Month: December 2019
McLaren to build new F1 simulator
Dec.16 (GMM) McLaren says it will build a new state of the art F1 simulator. Spain’s El Confidencial newspaper quoted former McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton as saying that he used the current simulator “too much” when he drove for the British team. “I could spend a hundred pounds on a Playstation and learn the same,” […]
Gasly to push for Red Bull return
Dec.16 (GMM) Pierre Gasly has set a clear goal to aim for in 2020. “I would like to return to Red Bull,” the Frenchman, who was demoted during the course of 2019, told Corriere dello Sport. 23-year-old Gasly found his form again once he returned to Toro Rosso. He will stay at the junior Red […]
Prost says Renault should prioritise 2021
Dec.16 (GMM) Alain Prost has admitted that Renault will race in 2020 with a very firm focus on the “big opportunity” of the new rules in 2021. The French works team’s goal is to join Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull among the sport’s grandee teams, albeit with a smaller budget. “We showed last year that […]
Russell doubts Williams will join midfield in 2020
Dec.16 (GMM) George Russell has played down hopes that Williams will be a midfield contender in 2020. The British team has slumped to the back of the field with a big gap to the next-best rivals, but 2018 Formula 2 champion Russell said he quickly adjusted to the situation. “I never thought about where I […]
F1 adopted ‘let drivers race’ policy – Masi
Dec.16 (GMM) Race director Michael Masi has reminded the F1 world that the FIA has relaxed its approach to penalising drivers. At the end of the first season without Charlie Whiting, who died in Melbourne, his replacement Masi responded to critics who think stewards’ decisions have been inconsistent in 2019. “People sometimes forget that we […]
Ferrari to consider 2021 lineup in May
Dec.13 (GMM) Ferrari CEO Louis Camilleri has admitted that Sebastian Vettel’s future at Maranello is clouded. With the emergence of his young teammate Charles Leclerc, who Camilleri says has a “long term contract”, quadruple world champion Vettel has lost his number 1 status for 2020. Team boss Mattia Binotto says the pair will start 2020, […]
2021 Ferrari debut ‘too early’ for Schumacher
Dec.13 (GMM) A 2021 Ferrari race seat for Mick Schumacher would be “too early” for the F1 legend’s son. That is the claim of team boss Mattia Binotto, even though 20-year-old Schumacher has already tested a 2019 Ferrari and is a member of Maranello’s driver academy. Schumacher, whose father is seven time world champion and […]
Barcelona needs ‘help’ to afford Liberty Media fee
Dec.13 (GMM) Barcelona needs “help” in order to extend its contract to host the Spanish GP beyond 2020. Liberty Media agreed an eleventh hour, single-year solution for next year’s race at Circuit de Catalunya, but track boss Vincenc Aguilera says the next deal should be for “three, four or five years”. “I want to say […]
Verstappen would be ‘less aggressive’ in Mercedes
Dec.13 (GMM) Max Verstappen says he would drive less aggressively at the wheel of a Mercedes. Most pundits agree that the Dutchman was notably more mature in 2019 compared to his early days in Formula 1 as a teenager. But six time world champion Lewis Hamilton has said that Verstappen, 22, is still too aggressive […]
Furious Ferrari slams door on Verstappen
Dec.13 (GMM) Ferrari has slammed the door shut to Max Verstappen. At the Maranello team’s end of season dinner, bosses Mattia Binotto and Louis Camilleri confirmed that Sebastian Vettel’s 2021 seat may be up for grabs. But the talk was mainly about Lewis Hamilton, as Binotto swept away any lingering speculation that Fernando Alonso might […]
Ferrari reveals aero, engine changes for 2020
Dec.13 (GMM) Ferrari’s 2020 car will feature fundamental changes when it is revealed to the public on February 11. Speaking at the team’s end of season dinner, boss Mattia Binotto thinks Ferrari will be “probably the first” of the ten teams to launch for 2020. Indeed, February 11 is a full eight days prior to […]
Ferrari would veto Wolff as F1 supremo
Dec.13 (GMM) Ferrari says it would veto Toto Wolff’s appointment to the top job in Formula 1. After presiding over six consecutive world championships at Mercedes, the 47-year-old Austrian has been linked with replacing Chase Carey at Liberty Media. But Ferrari has a unique and controversial right of veto, and CEO Louis Camilleri warns that […]
Ecclestone thinks Vettel could quit after 2020
Dec.12 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone thinks Sebastian Vettel may have lost his edge. Many pundits are currently discussing Ferrari’s driver lineup, after quadruple world champion Vettel’s number 1 status was challenged in 2019. The pair’s on-track bickering also culminated in their clash in Brazil, but former F1 supremo Ecclestone thinks the main problem could be German […]
Kvyat must beat Gasly in 2020 – Sirotkin
Dec.12 (GMM) Daniil Kvyat must beat Toro Rosso teammate Pierre Gasly in 2020 to secure his place in Red Bull’s F1 program. That is the view of Kvyat’s Russian countryman Sergey Sirotkin, the Renault and McLaren reserve driver this year. Kvyat claimed recently that 2019 was actually his best in Formula 1, but Sirotkin thinks […]
Liberty asked Red Bull about seat for Alonso
Dec.12 (GMM) Liberty Media made an enquiry in the summer about whether there might be room at Red Bull’s top F1 team for Fernando Alonso. That is the claim of Dr Helmut Marko, who with tongue in cheek described F1 owner Liberty as the new “Alonso managers” who offered to help the two-time world champion […]
Hamilton confirms ‘little spin’ on MotoGP bike
Dec.12 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton has confirmed reports that he had a minor incident whilst riding Valentino Rossi’s MotoGP bike at Valencia this week. Amid an information blackout in the 24 hours after the Mercedes and Yamaha swap, Italian newspaper Corriere dello Sport reported a rumour that Hamilton had crashed with “no consequences” for the world […]
Williams should focus on 2021 car – Sirotkin
Dec.12 (GMM) Williams should focus on building a much better car for 2021, according to former team driver Sergey Sirotkin. The Russian, who became Renault and McLaren’s reserve driver this year, drove for Williams in 2018, where he witnessed first-hand the famous team’s decline to backmarker status. “Williams made fundamental miscalculations in the processes and […]
McLaren ‘opportunity’ will come in 2022 – Brown
Dec.12 (GMM) Zak Brown thinks McLaren will have to wait until 2022 to get a shot at catching top teams Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. The Woking based team was the most improved in 2019, beating Renault to fourth in the constructors’ world championship. McLaren supremo Brown says the team will have the same budget […]
Founder hails Toro Rosso’s ‘enormous’ progress
Dec.11 (GMM) The founder of the team known as Toro Rosso says he is impressed with the Faenza based team’s recent progress. Giancarlo Minardi, now 72, was actually born at Faenza in Italy, and initially began entering his Minardi team in Formula 2 races in 1980. Minardi sold his ailing F1 team to Paul Stoddart […]