Jun.23 (GMM) Fernando Alonso expects the entire triple-header F1 weekend to be “painful”. After a promising and podium-filled 2023, the rapidly developing Aston Martin team is now struggling merely to get into Q3 and score meagre points. Alonso, for instance, qualified P11 at home in Barcelona. “This team has been in the building phase for […]
Month: June 2024
‘No decision’ about scrapping engine program – Briatore
Jun.23 (GMM) Alpine’s new F1 advisor Flavio Briatore is not denying that the team’s manufacturer parent Renault could totally scrap its 2026 engine project. “I don’t comment on these kinds of rumours,” team boss Bruno Famin told Canal Plus in Barcelona. Briatore, the struggling Enstone based team’s former ultra-successful boss, has been appointed by Renault […]
FIA gives thumbs up to flexing front wings in Spain
Jun.23 (GMM) FIA scrutineers have once again approved McLaren and Mercedes’ controversial front wings, after it emerged in Canada two weeks ago that Red Bull has concerns about excessive flexing. In Barcelona, McLaren’s Lando Norris qualified on pole ahead of Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, with the ever-improving Mercedes cars next fastest. “Mercedes have certainly made […]
McLaren’s car now ‘better’ than Red Bull’s – Verstappen
Jun.23 (GMM) McLaren is already “better” than Red Bull, triple world champion and 2024 championship leader Max Verstappen admitted in Barcelona. He was speaking after qualifying, where Lando Norris just managed to squeak ahead of Verstappen’s previously-dominant Red Bull to secure pole position. Heading into the weekend, Red Bull’s F1 advisor Dr Helmut Marko said […]
Briatore can turn Alpine around in ‘two years’
Jun.22 (GMM) Flavio Briatore says he can get the beleaguered Alpine team back in Formula 1’s “top four” within “two years”. The big news as the sport got into action in Barcelona is that the factory team’s successful and controversial former boss has been signed by Renault CEO Luca de Meo as ‘executive advisor’. “Luca […]
Aston Martin owner’s son says ‘everyone’ wants Newey
Jun.22 (GMM) Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll’s son admits that “everyone” in his father’s position wants to sign a contract with the great Adrian Newey. As Formula 1 headed to Barcelona for the Spanish GP, rumours emerged that Red Bull refugee Newey, arguably the most respected designer in F1 history, had been given a […]
Imola test was to give Verstappen ‘reference’ – Red Bull
Jun.22 (GMM) Red Bull admits Max Verstappen was given a private run in the team’s title-winning 2022 car earlier this week to serve as a “reference” for some of the problems with this year’s single seater. Fresh from his Imola test, the Dutch driver was just P5 in Friday practice in Barcelona, but Red Bull […]
Ocon wants F1 future secured before August
Jun.22 (GMM) Esteban Ocon is hoping his next move in Formula 1 can be announced before the end of next month. The Frenchman’s reputation has taken a major hit in 2024, as the struggling Alpine team has already announced that he will not be offered a new contract. Ocon, 27, defended his talent. “In all […]
Wolff calls police amid Hamilton sabotage claims
Jun.22 (GMM) Toto Wolff has called in the police to get to the bottom of wild claims that Ferrari-bound Lewis Hamilton is being sabotaged by Mercedes’ F1 team. The anonymous email, purported to have been sent by a disgruntled Mercedes staffer, was sent to all major Formula 1 stakeholders and journalists. “It’s not from a […]
Ocon to race Gasly’s lighter Alpine in Barcelona
Jun.21 (GMM) Alpine has agreed to put Esteban Ocon at the wheel of Pierre Gasly’s lighter chassis this weekend in Barcelona. With Ocon and the crisis-struck Renault factory team splitting at the end of the year, all semblance of harmony evaporated at the most recent races in Monaco and Canada. In Montreal, Ocon even revealed […]
Gasly admits Renault could scrap 2026 engine project
Jun.21 (GMM) Pierre Gasly has hinted that Alpine really is contemplating buying a customer engine from a rival Formula 1 manufacturer. Renault’s factory F1 outfit remains in deep performance and personnel crisis in 2024, and the situation is not likely to change this weekend in Barcelona. “We won’t have any upgrades in the near future,” […]
Verstappen hits back at British GP boss
Jun.21 (GMM) Max Verstappen has lashed back at claims that he is responsible for poor ticket sales for the forthcoming 2024 British GP. When explaining why the July event has not sold out, Silverstone boss Stuart Pringle alleged that Red Bull and Max Verstappen had made the results “very repetitive”. “I don’t think I can […]
Axed Russian sponsor wins legal battle with Haas F1
Jun.21 (GMM) Haas’ axed former title sponsor has won a legal battle against the Formula 1 team in a Swiss arbitration court. Uralkali, a Russian fertiliser giant, heavily backed the similarly-ousted driver Nikita Mazepin until the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in early 2022. The company sought compensation for the terminated sponsorship deal through the […]
Official warns 2024 could be last Las Vegas GP
Jun.21 (GMM) A cloud has moved above the future of the Las Vegas GP in the form of Clark County commissioner Marilyn Kirkpatrick. The Formula 1 event is the new blue-riband, glitzy project of the sport’s owner Liberty Media, but the inaugural race enraged certain local businesses and residents. “We don’t have a choice but […]
Sargeant finally has Albon-spec Williams to race
Jun.21 (GMM) A gloomy Logan Sargeant played down the rampant rumours about his future in Formula 1 as he prepared for the weekend’s Spanish GP. Former F1 star Juan Pablo Montoya said earlier this week that the Williams driver “already knows” he is living on borrowed time in the paddock, amid rumours he could even […]
Hamilton distances himself from ‘sabotage’ claims
Jun.21 (GMM) Lewis Hamilton insists he does not support any feelings of “negativity” about his looming departure from the Mercedes team. An anonymous email, sent to all of the major stakeholders and media players working in Formula 1, claims the seven time world champion is being “sabotaged” by the Toto Wolff-led team ahead of his […]
Only FIA can ‘clip Mercedes’ front wings’, says Red Bull
Jun.20 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko admits Red Bull has concerns about the flexibility of some rival team’s front wing designs – especially Mercedes. As 2024 has progressed, Red Bull’s dominance has begun to fade as Ferrari and McLaren in particular closed the gap. But even Mercedes seems to finally be putting its struggles with the […]
F1 CEO not worried about 2026 rules controversy
Jun.20 (GMM) F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali says he’s confident the controversy surrounding the sport’s planned 2026 rules revolution will soon end. Drivers and teams have expressed concerns about the chassis compromises required to accommodate the ambitiously-powered hybrid elements of the new power units, amid rumours Renault may be considering scrapping the project altogether. But Domenicali […]
Mick perhaps ‘too nice’ for F1 comeback – Jean Todt
Jun.20 (GMM) Mick Schumacher “deserves” to be given a second chance in Formula 1. That’s the claim of Jean Todt, the former Ferrari boss and ex-FIA president who remains a close personal friend of Michael Schumacher’s family. Mick, 25, lost his Haas race seat after 2022 following an extended period of criticism from then team […]
Newey visits Aston Martin for ‘private’ F1 team tour
Jun.20 (GMM) The possibility that Adrian Newey will re-emerge at Aston Martin rather than Ferrari has increased substantially. Red Bull refugee Newey, arguably the most respected designer in Formula 1 history, has said in the past that one regret is not ever working with either Lewis Hamilton or Fernando Alonso. When asked about Newey this […]