Pirelli claims Mercedes has not tested tyres tweaked for Canada

Pirelli on Friday categorically denied Mercedes has already evaluated the new tyre that other teams will only test for the first time next Friday, when they tested in ‘secret’ at Circuit de Catalunya. Amid the controversy about Mercedes’ exclusive ‘secret’ tyre test at Barcelona after the Spanish Grand Prix, Formula 1′s tyre supplier released a [...]

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Massa and Maldonado expect to be fit for Canada

Felipe Massa has reassured his fans that he will be back in action for Ferrari next weekend in Canada. Before going to hospital for checks, the Brazilian sat trackside with a neck-collar in the wake of his two high-speed crashes at Monaco’s first corner last weekend. Ferrari team boss Stefano Domenicali said earlier this week: [...]

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Trulli plans to sue Caterham boss Fernandes

F1 veteran Jarno Trulli has announced plans to sue Caterham team owner Tony Fernandes. At the end of 2011, with a firm contract for 2012, the Italian reportedly agreed to vacate his race seat to make room for the well-funded Russian Vitaly Petrov. But Trulli, now 38, says Fernandes promised to pay him in full [...]

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GPI #73

Son emulates father at Monaco. Great feel good story emerged after a dramatic, action packed and expensive weekend at the Principality in what is dubbed as Formula 1’s crown jewel event. Why this is defies logic, but then so does our favourite sport most of the time. Almost overshadowing Rosberg’s stellar performance on his ‘home’ track, was the ‘secret’ tyre test Mercedes conducted with Pirelli after the Spanish GP. This ignited an almighty furore which is also set to dominate headlines for some time. In this edition we have it all covered with great photography to boot. Enjoy!

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YallaF1.com is no more, but Grand Prix 247 is born to takeover the baton

YallaF1.com has run its race and has no morphed into Grand Prix 247 for a variety of reasons which deserve no column inches whatsoever. The site is only new in name, the same ethos of providing topical Formula 1 news still remains, with an emphasis on breaking stories, interviews, reports and features – related to [...]

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Lauda accepts delay in Pirelli tyre compound mods

Niki Lauda says Mercedes accepts Pirelli’s decision to delay changes to the controversial 2013 Formula 1 tyres until after they are tested in free practice in Montreal next Friday. Teams like Mercedes and Red Bull had pushed hard for the changes, but some teams – notably Lotus, Ferrari and Force India – insisted the tyre [...]

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FIA boss backs Ecclestone amid corruption charge

FIA president Jean Todt has backed Bernie Ecclestone, as German prosecutors prepare to charge the Formula 1 chief executive for corruption. It has been suggested Ecclestone will be stepped down by the sport’s owners CVC if he is charged or convicted. But FIA president Todt is quoted by DPA news agency: “He has every right [...]

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FIA wants Pirelli dossier from secret test including data

The sport’s governing body, the FIA has asked Pirelli to compile a thorough “dossier” ahead of an international tribunal hearing regarding the secret Mercedes test, according to Kleine Zeitung newspaper. Team boss Ross Brawn is quoted as saying Mercedes could not have benefited from the three-day test in Barcelona just after the Spanish Grand Prix, [...]

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Ricciardo says Grosjean’s Monaco antics were idiotic

Daniel Ricciardo has added to Romain Grosjean’s woes by admitting he called the beleaguered Lotus driver for behaving like an an idiot in Monaco. Frenchman Grosjean, last year branded the ‘first lap nutcase’ by Mark Webber after a spate of incidents culminating in a race ban, ended Ricciardo’s Monaco race with a rear-end collision last [...]

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Salo says error prone Grosjean will hurt someone else or himself

Accident prone Romain Grosjean’s days in Formula 1 could be numbered, according to former driver and Finnish pundit Mika Salo. Having apparently put his ‘first lap nutcase’ troubles of 2012 behind him, the Frenchman was back in the wars in Monaco, crashing no fewer than four times. He will have to move ten places down [...]

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Williams signs long term F1 engine partnership deal with Mercedes

The Williams F1 Team and Mercedes-Benz are pleased to announce the signature of a long-term engine partnership from the 2014 Formula One World Championship season onwards. Under the terms of the agreement, Williams will be supplied with a Mercedes-Benz Power Unit (Internal Combustion Engine plus Energy Recovery System) by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) [...]

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Grand Prix International #73

Son emulates father at Monaco. Great feel good story emerged after a dramatic, action packed and expensive weekend at the Principality in what is dubbed as Formula 1’s crown jewel event. Why this is defies logic, but then so does our favourite sport most of the time. Almost overshadowing Rosberg’s stellar performance on his ‘home’ track, was the ‘secret’ tyre test Mercedes conducted with Pirelli after the Spanish GP. This ignited an almighty furore which is also set to dominate headlines for some time. In this edition we have it all covered with great photography to boot. Enjoy!

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Wolff: It’s not up to us to talk about sanctions or to express concerns

Mercedes motorsport boss and team co-owner Toto Wolff is refusing to say he is worried about potential penalties as a result of the secret Pirelli tyre test held in Barcelona before the Monaco GP. Although Jenson Button said he senses a slapped wrist might be the outcome, Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko likened the affair [...]

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Hamilton says McLaren brakes different to Mercedes

Apparently Lewis Hamilton’s main problem as he grapples to get up to speed with Monaco winning Mercedes teammate Nico Rosberg is the W04 car’s brakes, it has emerged. Beaten to pole position by Rosberg on the last three outings, Hamilton departed Monaco last Sunday – having watched the sister car stroll to victory – vowing [...]

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Report links Ford with F1 turbo era return

Speed Week has named Ford as a potential candidate to return to Formula 1 after the new V6 trubo engine rules become de rigeur in 2014. Honda, having pulled out at the end of 2008, has already announced its return with McLaren in 2015, but Toyota and BMW have denied speculation they are also tempted [...]

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Indy winner Castroneves says F1 too political

Triple Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves has slammed Formula 1 for being all politics. “Formula 1? It’s a bunch of politics,” he told Forbes magazine. “It’s all politics. Every sport has politics, but it’s so bad. Who you know, who you contact – that’s what it’s all about.” “They don’t care if you are good,” said [...]

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Ferrari adamant they will bounce back in Canada

Stefano Domenicali and Fernando Alonso are adamant Ferrari to bounce back at the Canadian GP in Montreal next weekend. Off the back of his Barcelona win, Fernando Alonso struggled in the Principality last weekend, qualifying sixth and finishing just seventh. It was a blow for the Spaniard in the drivers’ championship, who is now almost [...]

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Pirelli continues with old tyres as Lotus refuses to accept tweaks

Pirelli’s move to merely test rather than race its tweaked tyres in Canada is almost certainly due to the refusal of teams, apparently led by Lotus and Ferrari, to accept the proposed changes to compounds. The rules state that Formula 1′s sole tyre supplier can only make changes on the grounds of safety or with [...]

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Williams appoint new Group CEO

Williams Grand Prix Holdings PLC has announced that Mike O’Driscoll will become Group CEO with effect from today. O’Driscoll, formerly Managing Director of Jaguar Cars (2007 – 2011) and ex-President of Aston Martin Jaguar Land Rover in North America (2001 – 2007), has been appointed Group CEO to guide the long term future of Williams. [...]

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Vettel: Drivers are not enjoying the races as much as they would like

World champion Sebastian Vettel has admitted he defied Red Bull team instructions in Monaco due to boredom, and revealed that drivers are not enjoying ‘racing’ in tyre conservation mode. In the dying stages of the race, Vettel picked up his pace behind winner Nico Rosberg, earning a rebuke from his pit wall for smashing the [...]

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Ferrari priming Kobayashi to step in should Massa be unfit for Canada

With Felipe Massa recovering from two huge shunts he suffered during the Monaco GP weekend, it is no surprise that Ferrari appear to be priming Kamui Kokayashi to step into the F138 cockpit in Canada should the need arise. On Monday the Fiorano track was the scene of Kamui Kobayashi’s first drive at the wheel [...]

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Marko: Mercedes secret test is like 2007 spy scandal

Formula 1 may soon be rocked by a massive penalty fine, in the wake of the Mercedes secret tyre test, on the scale of the spy-gate scandal of 2007. The FIA is expected to convene a meeting of the international tribunal, to consider the matter of Mercedes’ ‘secret’ Pirelli tyre test. Ferrari, along with Red [...]

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Domenicali: This championship seems to be an emotional roller-coaster

Ferrari have returned home to Maranello after an anxious and below par weekend on the streets of Monte Carlo, where Fernando Alonso was seventh in the race and Felipe Massa suffered a big accident during the grand prix prompting team principal Stefano Domenicali to describe the season thus far as a roller-coaster of emotions for [...]

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Mallya: Formula 1 also needs the independent and the smaller teams

Force India team owner Vijay Mallya has backed his deputy in declaring that Formula 1′s biggest teams are pushing their small rivals out of the sport by gross over-spending. Deputy team boss Bob Fernley issued a furious attack on Formula 1 owners CVC last weekend, saying he suspected the odds are being stacked in an [...]

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Sauber claims Bottas stole a point from the team in Monaco

Williams rookie Valtteri Bottas has been accused of unsportsmanlike claims due to his  behaviour in the dying moments of the Monaco Grand Prix. In the last two laps, when Kimi Raikkonen was seething through the field on fresh Pirelli rubber following his late pitstop, the Finn managed to salvage a solitary point by making up [...]

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Valsecchi in line for Lotus seat if Grosjean gets the axe

Lotus boss Eric Boullier is refusing to rule out Davide Valsecchi for a future in Romain Grosjean’s seat, something which the Italian driver is very aware of. Having only narrowly hung onto his drive for 2013, Frenchman Grosjean is back in the wars this week in the wake of his four crashes in Monaco. He [...]

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Last minute front wing delivery boost Red Bull in Monaco

New front wings hand delivered by test driver Sebastien Buemi was the key to Red Bull’s turnaround on the streets of Monaco, it has emerged. On Thursday in the Principality, the RB9 did not look like a competitive car. “We were one second too slow,” Dr Helmut Marko told Servus TV. But by Saturday, Sebastian [...]

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Hamilton: I just have to focus on myself and try and get my shit together

Lewis Hamilton is calm about what could happen to Mercedes if they are hauled before a Formula 1 tribunal to explain their secret tyre test, but he is worried about his own form. “I’m not concerned about it, that’s for the team to worry about,” the 2008 world champion said of his team’s apparent breaking [...]

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Massa’s crash in Monaco caused by suspension failure

Suspension failure caused Felipe Massa’s Monaco Grand Prix crash at the weekend, Ferrari said on Tuesday. The Brazilian’s race crash looked like a carbon copy of one he had in final practice which he said was caused by the front wheels locking after he braked and hit a bump on the pit straight before the [...]

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No F1 turbo engine price drop for 2014 says Renault

Renault will look to reduce the price of its new F1 V6 turbo engines over time, the French carmaker’s president Carlos Ghosn said. Reports have indicated that Renault’s new engine for 2014 is millions more expensive than any of its rival Formula 1 suppliers, causing Williams to jump ship to Mercedes. It is also rumoured [...]

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Raikkonen: Maybe someone should punch Perez in the face

Normally a man  of few words, Kimi Raikkonen has been pretty verbose since the Monaco GP and delivered another punchy quote to his legions of fans, after his clash with Sergio Perez during the street race in Monte Carlo. Furious about being run into by the McLaren driver at the exit of the tunnel, Finn [...]

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