Apr.19 (GMM) Valtteri Bottas is among the Formula 1 drivers who is yet to find his seat amid the 2025 driver market ‘silly season’. The experienced Finn and former Mercedes race winner looks likely to be left out of new team owner Audi’s plans at his existing team, Sauber. Multiple drivers are linked with the 34-year-old’s place, as well as that of his Chinese teammate Guanyu Zhou – including Carlos Sainz, Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez. It is believed Audi is so keen to wrap up its lineup for 2025, 2026 and perhaps even 2027 that strict deadlines on the drivers with solid offers are now loo ..read more

Apr.19 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko admits he is surprised Mercedes has still not mastered the new-in-2022 ground effect regulations for three consecutive seasons and running. Former F1 driver Christian Danner said recently that he thinks the death of Toto Wolff’s former sparring partner Niki Lauda might explain Mercedes’ ongoing struggles, which have resulted in Lewis Hamilton departing for Ferrari for 2025. “It’s not that simple,” Marko, the top Austrian F1 consultant at Red Bull, told Osterreich newspaper. “You don’t enter a slump like this overnight,” he added. “But what is alarming is that they ..read more

Apr.19 (GMM) As long as Red Bull remains “peaceful and calm”, Max Verstappen says he’s going nowhere. For months now, rumours and counter-rumours amid the loud and intense Red Bull leadership power struggle have suggested the triple world champion might find a way out of his 2028 contract. That might go a long way to explaining why the power struggle has suddenly become so quiet – notwithstanding a new report suggesting a new and less biased lawyer is now in charge of the internal appeal lodged by team boss Christian Horner’s female accuser. “No comment,” Dr Helmut Marko told Osterreich newspa ..read more

Apr.19 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko has continued to divulge the apparent details of Audi’s contract offer to Ferrari refugee Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez appears headed for a new contract at Red Bull Racing next year, as Red Bull’s top F1 consultant Marko admits that he brings more than just pace to the seat alongside Max Verstappen. “He brings Mexican sponsors with him,” Marko, 80, told Osterreich newspaper. “His demands are more about the length of the contract.” Indeed, paddock rumours suggest Red Bull is only offering 34-year-old Perez a one-year deal for 2025 – while Audi-owned Sauber is rumoured ..read more

Apr.19 (GMM) A question mark is hanging over Lance Stroll’s future in Formula 1. Aston Martin has just inked a new contract for 2025 and 2026 with Fernando Alonso, but team boss Mike Krack warned in Shanghai that 25-year-old Stroll’s future will only be dealt with “in the coming weeks”. However, he also insisted that Aston Martin “is Lance’s home” – an obvious comment given that the Silverstone-based team is owned by the Canadian driver’s billionaire father Lawrence. 1996 world champion Damon Hill joked this week that Stroll might actually decide to give up on F1 to play “tennis”, while former ..read more

Apr.19 (GMM) Dr Helmut Marko admits Red Bull is keeping an eye on McLaren’s contracted driver duo “for the future”. Heading into Shanghai, McLaren boss Andrea Stella sounded hopeful the team will not only cement its status as the third-fastest team in 2024, but perhaps even win races later this season. “If we deliver the same type of development that we did last year, then why not?” he is quoted by France’s Auto Hebdo. “I don’t want to sound arrogant, but this is certainly the mindset that everyone at McLaren has.” The Woking based outfit has taken some minor developments to China, but both La ..read more

Apr.19 (GMM) The entire world of Formula 1 was caught by surprise when zooming in on the details of Shanghai’s track resurfacing and repair efforts after a four-year absence for the covid pandemic. Before the teams touched down in China, there were reports that the asphalt has been resurfaced – amid other reports that only certain sections were repaired to smooth out some of the worst bumps. “The track appears to have been painted rather than resurfaced,” triple world champion Max Verstappen said. “I don’t know what this will mean for grip.” Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc did not know how to descri ..read more

Apr.18 (GMM) The mystery about Adrian Newey’s recent visit to Italy has been solved. Amid swirling rumours surrounding the Red Bull power struggle, the sighting of F1’s most revered designer at Bologna airport – just an hour from Maranello – set tongues wagging. But according to Italy’s Formula Passion, the 65-year-old was not in town to meet for talks with Ferrari. Instead, he “treated himself to a day on the track at Mugello”, the report revealed. Mugello is owned by Ferrari, but Newey was there in Red Bull Racing team overalls for a track day with KR Motorsports – where he got behind the wh ..read more

Apr.18 (GMM) Carlos Sainz seems more likely to end up in a Audi-owned Sauber next rather than a Red Bull. That’s the news directly from the mouth of Red Bull’s top Austrian F1 consultant Dr Helmut Marko, despite admitting the energy drink-owned camp is “talking to him”. “He is having his strongest season in Formula 1,” said Marko, who brought Sainz into F1 via the Red Bull junior program, with the now 29-year-old Spaniard subsequently heading to Ferrari via Renault and McLaren. Sainz, though, has been dropped by Ferrari for 2025, and he is now being linked with Audi, Mercedes, and even Red Bul ..read more

Apr.17 (GMM) Adrian Newey, arguably the most highly coveted designer in Formula 1 history, has been spotted in Italy. Amid the ongoing Red Bull power struggle, Newey – as well as Dr Helmut Marko and even Max Verstappen – have all been linked with the exit door. Recently, just as it was rumoured 65-year-old Newey had fallen out with Christian Horner, Newey’s wife Amanda ‘liked’ a social media post about her husband regretting ever working for Ferrari. “Now’s your chance to tick off those regrets, Adrian,” the post that Mrs Newey ‘liked’ read. Contractually, Newey is committed to Red Bull throug ..read more