Lewis Hamilton set the early pace as track action got underway at Monza for the Italian Grand Prix. Hamilton's time of 1:25.565 was 0.035s quicker than Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. Nico Rosberg was third, with Sebastian Vettel in fourth and the longer wheelbase Lotus of Kimi Raikkonen in fifth. The opening half an hour was fairly quiet, with only Marussia reserve driver Rodolfo Gonzalez circulating at a comparatively sedate pace. He was later joined by more esteemed rivals as the temperature crept towards 30 degrees on […]

Sauber is set to part company with reserve driver Robin Frijns after the Dutchman was informed that his services will not be required in 2014. Frijns, reigning Formula Renault 3.5 Series champion, joined Sauber at the end of last season. "Yes the bad news is true..." Frijns posted on his Twitter account on Wednesday evening. "I don't know what happens now," Frijns added to Autosport. "All I know is I'm sitting at home and everybody is in Monza. I'm a free agent. I don't blame […]

David Ward has announced his intention to stand in this year's FIA presidential elections. Ward has resigned as the FIA Foundation's Director General after 12 years in the position. "After much careful thought I have decided to stand as a candidate in the 2013 FIA Presidential election," Ward said in a statement released on the FIA Foundation's website on Thursday. "The election period begins in September and it will be necessary for me to approach FIA members to secure nominations. In these circumstances I think […]

Felipe Massa says a few minor issues cost him a chance of a top five finish at the Belgian Grand Prix. Massa started the race in tenth place and finished the race three places further ahead in seventh. "The pace was very good. At the beginning I had a problem at the first corner, I lost four positions and then I was behind these cars so I couldn’t show the pace," he said. "I needed to overtake these cars and I managed to do it, […]

Sebastian Vettel dominated the Belgian Grand Prix as anticipated wet weather failed to materialise. The reigning world champion took the lead of the race on the opening lap and was never threatened there on. Fernando Alonso returned to the podium for the first time since the Canadian Grand Prix as he equalled his best result at Spa with second place. Polesitter Lewis Hamilton was third, a couple of seconds ahead of team-mate Nico Rosberg. Mark Webber finished in fifth, with Jenson Button in sixth and […]

Max Chilton has hit back at Marussia's departed technical boss Pat Symonds. Just before announcing his defection to Williams, Symonds compared Marussia's current drivers with champions like Fernando Alonso, surmising that the Spaniard is at least half a second quicker. "Our hands are tied," he had said, "(as) we need to have drivers who also bring money." The comment was interpreted as a specific rebuke at Briton Chilton, whose wealthy father has bankrolled his F1 debut. Chilton has also been shaded this year by his […]

Formula 1 race director Charlie Whiting says he came very close to red flagging the British Grand Prix. Five drivers suffered tyre blowouts during the 52 lap race and Whiting says he came close to halting the action. "It was quite close to being red-flagged; it did occur to me to do that," he said. "Obviously to clear up all that debris was putting marshals at risk, and it is not satisfactory. We haven't seen a failure like this before; we have seen other types […]

McLaren driver Jenson Button says Pirelli must fix their problems which blighted the British Grand Prix. Five drivers suffered from tyre failures during the race and Button, who finished the race in thirteenth place, has now called for action. "If it's happening through low-speed corners then that is bad enough, but it is happening at 300kmh along the backstraight which is very scary," he said. Newey urges tyre fix Perez, Vergne angry after failures Gutierrez calls for changes "It's not just scary for the person […]

Red Bull's Adrian Newey has urged the FIA to take action after a series of tyre failures that blighted the British Grand Prix. Race leader Lewis Hamilton suffered a failure early on, while Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez, Esteban Gutierrez and Jean-Eric Vergne were all hindered by Pirelli failures. "You really need to ask Pirelli but we asked the drivers to stay off the kerbs because they say it was the left rear." "Its a sad state of affairs, such is the nature of Formula 1 […]

Ferrari has admitted it is "disappointed" to have been used as part of Mercedes' defence as the German team escaped from the test-gate scandal with a light penalty. Before the judges ruled that Mercedes be only reprimanded and banned from next month's young drivers test, its lawyer argued extensively at the international tribunal that Ferrari also did the wrong thing with recent private tyre tests. Indeed, it emerged from last week's proceedings that while Ferrari used a 2011 car for its Pirelli tests, race driver […]

World champion Sebastian Vettel ends Red Bull's North American hoodoo on a day marred by tragedy

Alexander Rossi says it was great to return to a Formula 1 car after taking part in first practice for the Canadian Grand Prix. Rossi, who is competing for Caterham's eponymous team in GP2, finished in twentieth place in the 90 minute session. Rossi also took part in practice for last season's Spanish Grand Prix, as well as the young driver test in Abu Dhabi. "It was great to get back into F1 action and to do so in Canada, at a track I’ve raced […]