Oct.7 (GMM) FIA president Jean Todt has defended a controversial clash on next year’s F1 calendar. A re-jig of the Bernie Ecclestone-authored schedule for 2016, mainly to reinstate a long summer break, has resulted in the mid-June clash of the inaugural grand prix in Azerbaijan and the fabled sports car endurance race at Le Mans. […]
Lauda worried about Sochi’s Singapore-like track
Oct.7 (GMM) Niki Lauda has admitted he is worried about this weekend’s Russian grand prix. Earlier, we reported that Mercedes is indeed nervous about Sochi, despite dominating recently at Suzuka. Suzuka took place just a week after Singapore, where Mercedes’ surprising slump handed victory to Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel who with his 59 point deficit remains […]
Ecclestone expects sale of F1 ‘shortly’
Oct.7 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone said on Tuesday he expects formula one to be sold “shortly”. Earlier this year, multiple media reports suggested current owner CVC was eyeing a sale to one of several interested parties. They included the Miami Dolphins’ Stephen Ross, Qatar’s sports investment arm, Sky and international telcom Liberty, the Canadian billionaire Lawrence […]
Next F1 owner must be committed – Wolff
Oct.7 (GMM) F1’s next owner needs to be fully committed to the sport. That is the view of Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff, after F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone revealed that CVC is likely to sell its majority stake “shortly”. Among those reportedly interested are the Miami Dolphins’ Stephen Ross, Qatar’s sports investment arm, Sky and […]
Haas’ F1 and Nascar budgets are similar – Gene Haas
Oct.7 (GMM) Gene Haas says the money he will spend on formula one is comparable to his four-car operation in the American tin-top series Nascar. Californian Haas has partnered with Ferrari and Dallara to enter F1 next year with a team to be spearheaded from the cockpit by current Lotus driver Romain Grosjean. The approach […]
McLaren-Honda must look ahead to 2016 now
Oct.7 (GMM) McLaren-Honda is having to look beyond the final five races of 2015. At Suzuka recently, the Anglo-Japanese collaboration looked set to unravel, amid Fernando Alonso’s radio outbursts and Jenson Button’s questionable commitment to the struggling team and F1. But after Japan, McLaren re-signed Button, a chided Alonso’s anger subsided and team supremo Ron […]
Mercedes wary of ‘Singapore slump’ repeat in Russia
Oct.6 (GMM) A slightly nervous Mercedes is preparing for this weekend’s Russian grand prix. Actually, the usually utterly-dominant German squad can wrap up the 2015 constructors’ world championship this weekend at Sochi. But although the silver cars finished easily first and second at Suzuka, the points gap between Lewis Hamilton’s lead and Sebastian Vettel’s Ferrari […]
Ferrari plays down Sochi hopes
Oct.6 (GMM) Ferrari is not counting on having another Singapore-like showing this weekend at Sochi. Just over two weeks ago, Sebastian Vettel put himself back in the championship reckoning by dominating in Singapore, where Mercedes famously ‘slumped’. But the silver team was back at its dominant best a week later in Japan. Still, there are […]
Mercedes’ huge F1 loss ‘priceless’ – reports
Oct.6 (GMM) Mercedes lost millions as it dominantly won last year’s world championships. Writing in the Swiss newspaper Blick, the veteran F1 journalist Roger Benoit says the German carmaker spent $360 million on its grand prix venture in 2014. But Bild am Sonntag, the major German Sunday newspaper, says that when Mercedes secures the 2015 […]
Red Bull engine deal ‘not Wolff’s decision’ – Horner
Oct.6 (GMM) Christian Horner has revealed that talks with two manufacturers are taking place as Red Bull continues to work on its engine supplier crisis. Amid the Renault divorce, the energy drink company says it will have to quit formula one if it cannot secure a competitive alternative engine for 2016. Mercedes, however, has ruled […]
Wehrlein not denying Manor rumours
Oct.5 (GMM) Pascal Wehrlein is not denying suggestions he is now in pole position to make his F1 debut next year. The speculation about the 20-year-old’s future has shifted into a high gear since the new engine deal between his employer Mercedes and the British backmarker Manor was announced officially in the past few days. […]
‘Most top teams’ targeting Verstappen – Ecclestone
Oct.5 (GMM) Max Verstappen must not be left without a race seat in formula one. That is the view of none other than F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who admits he is a great fan of the sport’s Dutch teen sensation. “Max has been very good for formula one,” the 84-year-old told De Telegraaf newspaper. “He’s […]
F1’s three-car future known ‘next month’ – Ecclestone
Oct.5 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone insists he is not worried F1 could be left with a diminished grid for the start of the 2016 season next March. Currently, following the collapse of Caterham last year, 10 teams make up a 20-car grid. But amid its talks with Renault, Enstone based Lotus is struggling financially, while Red […]
Andretti warns F1 against revolution
Oct.5 (GMM) Mario Andretti has warned formula one against going overboard as it looks to the future. After an intense period of recent soul-searching, the sport collectively agreed to turn a sharp corner for 2017 by speeding up and improving the look of the cars. Amid all the criticism, however, family patriarch and 1978 world […]
TV must not be F1’s only platform – Zetsche
Oct.5 (GMM) Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has called on formula one to up its game in the 21st century. Currently dominating the sport with its Mercedes team, Zetsche says the German giant is experiencing “enormous growth” in the realm of the internet. “In contrast,” he told the publication Deutsche Unternehmerborse, “television is struggling in its […]
‘Samurai’ Alonso will not take sabbatical – Sainz
Oct.5 (GMM) Fernando Alonso says he can be misunderstood by the public. Indeed, the latest rumours about the Spaniard arose after the Japanese grand prix, where he was rebuked by McLaren-Honda boss Ron Dennis for likening the “embarrassing” Honda power unit to a “GP2 engine”. Some sections of the media now believe a sabbatical in […]
Sainz hopes Red Bull engine crisis over ‘soon’
Oct.2 (GMM) Carlos Sainz has admitted to some nervousness about Red Bull’s F1 crisis. The energy drink company has threatened to pull both of its teams out of the sport because, as things stand, it cannot find a competitive alternative to its underpowered Renault engines. That is despite the fact that Red Bull Racing and […]
Michelin still in running for 2017 deal – reports
Oct.2 (GMM) Michelin is reportedly back in the running to become F1’s sole tyre supplier from 2017. It is already known that the French marque, like the sport’s current partner Pirelli, has been approved by the FIA and forwarded to Bernie Ecclestone for negotiations about the new deal. But it was strongly believed that the […]
Jorda admits Lotus test on back-burner for now
Oct.2 (GMM) Carmen Jorda has admitted her “dream” of actually driving a formula one car has been put on the back-burner for now. Amid some controversy about the former GP3 driver’s credentials, the 27-year-old Spaniard was signed this year by Lotus as development driver, and has been travelling the calendar with the Enstone team. It […]
Haas caught off-guard by early season start
Oct.2 (GMM) Bernie Ecclestone’s re-jigged calendar for 2016 is ruffling a few feathers this week. At the World Motor Sport Council in Paris, the F1 supremo’s amended 21-race calendar – with the Melbourne opener now two weeks earlier than planned – was rubber-stamped on Wednesday. It means the winter testing season now also needs to […]