Ferrari: There’s nothing new about winning a race making many pit stops
Ferrari has sided with Lotus in criticising the decision by Pirelli to impose mid-season tyre tweaks, following early-season criticism, culminating in the furore after Barcelona where the Maranello team won. Pirelli announced it is making key changes to its controversial 2013 tyres for next month’s Canadian Grand Prix and beyond. Lotus team owner Gerard Lopez [...]
Lotus: As with every season, some teams do a better job than others
Pirelli’s decision to change the Formula 1 tyres after just six races into the season penalises those teams who have done a better job than others in getting the existing ones to work, Lotus principal Eric Boullier claimed on Thursday. “Just imagine for a moment that because a football team can’t run as fast as [...]
Most teams unable to afford 2014 F1 V6 turbo engines
Most current Formula 1 teams cannot afford to pay the prices being quoted by engine manufacturers for next year’s all new V6 turbo engines. That is the claim of the German newspaper Bild, insisting that grandees Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes aside, the other seven teams are balking at the price demanded by Formula [...]
McLaren adamant they will not share Mercedes secrets with Honda
McLaren has played down suggestions Honda will unfairly benefit from the British team’s continuing collaboration with Mercedes next year, before the Japanese company returns to supply F1 engines to the Woking squad. It was announced in Tokyo on Thursday that McLaren will be powered by ‘works’ turbo V6 engines provided by Honda from 2015. But, [...]
Lauda: Speaking as a neutral I say Pirelli changes are very positive
Mercedes F1 team share holder Niki Lauda has hailed Pirelli’s move to alter the design of its 2013 tyres ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix next month and beyond. Lotus, arguably the team with the best grip on the Italian supplier’s controversial tyres this year, is not happy with the decision. “It’s clear that Pirelli [...]
News on Ecclestone charges on hold until June
It will be at least June before anything more is known about Bernie Ecclestone’s bribery charges. It is believed Formula 1′s 82-year-old chief executive has been charged by Munich prosecutors regarding his payment of $44 million some years ago to now jailed former banker Gerhard Gribkowsky. But a spokeswoman told German news agency DPA that [...]
Honda confirms F1 return with McLaren engine partnership starting in 2015
As we predicted Honda is returning to Formula One racing in 2015, after a seven-year hiatus, as McLaren’s engine partner, the Japanese carmaker said on Thursday. The link-up between Honda and McLaren, the second most successful team in the sport after Ferrari in terms of race wins and drivers’ titles, will revive one of the [...]
Honda partnership will keep McLaren competing among the F1 elite
McLaren’s Formula 1 engine deal with Honda from 2015 is a vital step to ensure they can keep punching at the same weight as works team rivals Ferrari and Mercedes, managing director Jonathan Neale said on Thursday. The Woking team have used engines provided by former shareholders Mercedes since 1995 but the German carmaker bought [...]
Button: I know exactly how passionate Honda is about motorsport
Jenson Button, the last driver to win a grand prix for Honda, was thrilled to discover on Thursday that the Japanese carmaker was returning to Formula One as engine partner to his McLaren team from 2015. The British 2009 world champion, who won the Hungarian Grand Prix for Honda in 2006 and drove for them [...]