Jun.30 (GMM) McLaren is borrowing about $185 million from a Bahraini bank. On Monday, amid claims the team needed funds desperately in order to avoid insolvency by mid July, McLaren supremo Zak Brown declared: “The problems have been solved. “You will hear positive news from us in the next few days,” he told Auto Motor […]
Month: June 2020
Zanardi still ‘serious’ after second operation
Jun.30 (GMM) Alex Zanardi on Monday remained in a “serious” condition after surgeons operated on his brain for a second time. In a statement issued by the Santa Maria alle Scotte hospital in Siena, Italy, doctors decided to operate after carrying out a CT scan. Zanardi, 53, has been in a coma ever since crashing […]
Max’s father hopes Red Bull close to Mercedes
Jun.30 (GMM) Max Verstappen’s father is hoping the new Red Bull car does not trail Mercedes’ pace by more than a couple of tenths. Many are predicting that 2020 will be a two-horse race between Dutchman Max Verstappen, 22, and reigning six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton. “Personally, I think we are just behind Mercedes,” Max’s […]
Leclerc admits 2020 victory will be ‘difficult’
Jun.30 (GMM) Charles Leclerc has admitted that charging for victory in Austria this weekend will be “difficult”. Ferrari has played down reports that it will unveil a major car upgrade this weekend, having notably struggled in pre-season testing. “We hope to do better, even if it will be difficult,” Leclerc told Sky Italia as he […]
Vettel ‘doesn’t like Ferrari politics’ – Marko
Jun.30 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel “lost faith in Ferrari”, according to his first Formula 1 boss. Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko brought the German into the sport over a decade ago and presided over his four consecutive world championships. Vettel, now 32, subsequently moved to Ferrari but will leave the Maranello team at the end of […]
Magnussen’s F1 career in peril – John Nielsen
Jun.30 (GMM) Kevin Magnussen will not be feeling confident about his future in Formula 1, according to former Le Mans winner John Nielsen. Having halted development of Haas’ 2020 car for cost reasons, Dane Magnussen’s boss Gunther Steiner refused to rule out needing to sign up a pay-driver for 2021. “They said they will not […]
Black driver has ‘only respect’ for Ecclestone
Jun.30 (GMM) Amid controversy over allegedly racist comments, Bernie Ecclestone has received some support from a retired American racing driver. Days after the former F1 supremo received scathing rebukes for saying that “in many cases black people are more racist than white people”, Willy T Ribbs says Ecclestone actually gave him a shot at a […]
F1 reinstates pre-race grid procedure for Austria
Jun.30 (GMM) Contrary to earlier reports, Formula 1 fans will get to see the teams and drivers prepare for Sunday’s Austrian GP ‘ghost race’ on the actual grid. It had been proposed that, as part of the sport’s strict measures to guard against coronavirus, the drivers would instead simply drive out of their garages onto […]
Vettel, Alonso eye ‘pink Mercedes’ for 2021
Jun.29 (GMM) Sebastian Vettel and Fernando Alonso are both in the running to drive for the new Aston Martin works team from 2021. That is the claim of La Gazzetta dello Sport, even though the earlier rumour was that the former world champions were in fact vying for a Renault seat. However, it is now […]
Crisis could move Raikkonen towards F1 exit – Salo
Jun.29 (GMM) The corona crisis could have inched Kimi Raikkonen closer to retirement, according to former F1 driver Mika Salo. As is clear from the 2007 world champion’s social media accounts, Finn Raikkonen has enjoyed the long break from Formula 1. “It’s hard to say how Kimi has reacted to this long vacation,” Salo, who […]
Second part of 2020 calendar to be released
Jun.29 (GMM) It is rumoured that the second and final part of Formula 1’s ‘corona calendar’ for 2020 will be released on Monday. Mugello, a Ferrari-owned circuit, is tipped to secure the sport’s 1000th race a week after Monza, with Italian media saying the FIA is expected to approve the schedule on Monday “or in […]
McLaren’s financial problems ‘solved’ – Brown
Jun.29 (GMM) McLaren’s financial problems “have been solved”. That is the claim of team supremo Zak Brown, mere days after it emerged that McLaren was actually looking towards a July hearing in the London High Court to avoid insolvency. Shortly after that news, rumours that McLaren could be rescued by a loan from the National […]
Domenicali thinks Vettel will ‘behave’ in 2020
Jun.29 (GMM) Former Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali has tipped Sebastian Vettel to “behave correctly” during the 2020 season. Some, like 1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve, are predicting fireworks between the departing quadruple world champion and new Ferrari number 1 Charles Leclerc. “The tension won’t help anyone – not even Leclerc,” Villeneuve told La Gazzetta dello […]
Hamilton says Africa should be on F1 calendar
Jun.29 (GMM) Africa is “the most important place” that should be added to the Formula 1 race calendar. That is the view of Lewis Hamilton, who has been heavily involved in the new Black Lives Matter movement that is sweeping America and the world. Africa is the only habitable continent missing from the sport’s annual […]
No Renault freeze for McLaren-bound Ricciardo
Jun.29 (GMM) Daniel Ricciardo will not be locked out of Renault’s car development program in 2020, team boss Cyril Abiteboul insists. Ricciardo will move from the French works team to McLaren for 2021, but Abiteboul said he is not worried the Australian will take secrets with him. “McLaren has to use both of its development […]
Corona outbreak means F1 teams could miss Austria
Jun.29 (GMM) Ferrari has admitted teams may need to miss this weekend’s Austrian GP if there is a coronavirus outbreak. Laurent Mekies, the Maranello team’s sporting boss, told Sky Italia that the two sides of the Ferrari garage will be divided into two anti-corona “bubbles”. “In the event that someone has a symptom, they will […]
Wolff expects ‘tight fight’ with Red Bull
Jun.29 (GMM) 2020 is shaping up as a two-man fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. “I would put my money on Hamilton, but it certainly won’t be an Oktoberfest for him,” said former F1 driver and president of the Grand Prix Drivers’ Association, Alex Wurz. “It will certainly be closer than last year,” he […]
Ecclestone slams Carey over racism controversy
Jun.29 (GMM) Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone has aimed fire at his successor amid a new movement of racial politics within the sport. Both Formula 1 and its six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton reacted with astonishment after Ecclestone, 90, said during an interview with CNN that “in many cases black people are more racist than […]
Alfa Romeo holds fire on 2021 driver decision
Jun.26 (GMM) Alfa Romeo has no plans to make an early decision about its driver lineup for 2021. Other teams, including Ferrari and McLaren, got in early by locking out their new lineups without a single race having taken place in 2020 so far. Alfa Romeo will not follow suit. “We are in a different […]
Expiring contract ‘nothing to worry about’ – Bottas
Jun.26 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas insists he has “nothing to worry about” despite heading into the delayed 2020 season without a contract in place for next year. Mika Hakkinen, part of the Finn’s management team, insists that the Mercedes driver has “prepared himself to a very high physical and psychological level” to take on Lewis Hamilton […]