Kimi Raikkonen, not his teammate Romain Grosjean, will debut Lotus' new longer-wheelbase car this weekend at Monza. "Kimi will drive the long wheelbase on Friday, and if necessary we can go back to the shorter version," race engineer Mark Slade told the Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat. "But we expect this (long) car to be better." Raikkonen, however, does not expect the change will be enough to win on Sunday. "Low downforce tracks are not good for us," said the Finn, "but let's see how the […]

Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed reports from Spa-Francorchamps this week that Michelin wants to return to Formula One. "They do want to get back in," the F1 chief executive is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport, "but we have had contracts with Pirelli for some time." Ecclestone is referring to commercial arrangements that have already been made with the sport's existing supplier. But there is no such contract between Pirelli and F1's governing FIA beyond 2013. That has ramped up the pressure on the already-frustrated Italian […]

Pirelli has confirmed reports the size of its F1 tyres will not be changing. Earlier, it was suggested that because the torque produced by next year's new V6 engines will be much greater, the Italian marque wanted to supply bigger and wider tyres. Indeed, motor sport boss Paul Hembery told Germany's Auto Motor und Sport that the 2014 data supplied by one engine supplier in particular - believed to be Mercedes - was "alarming". This ties in with reports Mercedes' 2014 rivals, Renault and Ferrari, […]

Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko has tipped Mercedes to bet everything on Lewis Hamilton taking a shot at the 2013 world championship. On the face of it, the German squad does not have a number 1 driver, but with less than half the season left to go, and arguably now the fastest car, the last-start winner is Lewis Hamilton. The Briton's deficit to title leader Sebastian Vettel, however, is 48 points. Marko told Auto Bild: "We are taking Mercedes very seriously. "Last year we were […]

Troubling signs of financial weakness are emerging from Lotus. The authoritative German website motorsport-total reports that, although in the hunt for the 2013 title, the Genii-owned outfit is "struggling to survive" under EUR 120 million in debt. For example, although Kimi Raikkonen is second only to Sebastian Vettel in the chase for the drivers' championship, development of the 2013 car is apparently all but over. Asked also about rumours of 'money problems', leading Lotus engineer Alan Permane admitted to Auto Motor und Sport: "We have […]

Red Bull is running with the rumour, after Fernando Alonso's manager was spotted in talks with Christian Horner in Hungary. The suggestion Ferrari's number 1 is about to sensationally switch to Red Bull to replace Mark Webber could have been easily denied, as Alonso's manager Luis Garcia Abad also looks after the career of youngster Carlos Sainz jr. Instead, Horner said: "There are statements about Kimi and statements about Fernando but we have to make sure nothing clouds our judgment about next year." Actually, most […]

A meeting in Hungary between Christian Horner and Fernando Alonso's manager could have had nothing to do with the Ferrari driver. Germany's Sport Bild reported earlier that Red Bull had confirmed the meeting in the team's motor home took place at Alonso manager Luis Garcia Abad's behest. Photos of the meeting were even published, raising the tantalising prospect of Alonso buying out the rest of his long and lucrative Ferrari deal to join arch-rival Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull in 2014. But Auto Motor und […]

Mercedes is the author of the latest F1 innovation, according to Germany's Auto Motor und Sport. Suffering in recent years with a lack of in-season development, and recently grappling with excessive tyre wear, the report said the Brackley based team has come up with a cunning trick in 2013. It is a thermal infrared camera, mounted backwards on the front wing of the W04 cars raced this season by Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The mini camera streams data to engineers about the live performance […]

F1's tyre-gate saga has taken another dramatic twist, as drivers formally threaten to boycott the German grand prix. The Grand Prix Drivers' Association (GPDA), led by Ferrari tester Pedro de la Rosa, warned at the Nurburgring that drivers will pull out of the Nurburgring round if there are signs the tyre-exploding crisis seen at Silverstone has not been solved. "The drivers have decided if similar problems should manifest themselves during the German GP, we shall immediately withdraw from the event," read the statement. The GPDA […]

Red Bull has turned to its fans to help it decide Mark Webber's successor. Team boss Christian Horner recently narrowed down the selection of Sebastian Vettel's new teammate for 2014 to a shortlist of three -- Kimi Raikkonen, or a current Toro Rosso driver. So on Red Bull's official Facebook page, a survey asking fans which of the three should get the job duly appeared. Finn Raikkonen attracted thousands of votes, while the second most popular choice was Australian Daniel Ricciardo. Raikkonen was not listening […]

While the FIA readies to analyse a possible breach of the official rules, Germany's Sport Bild claims Mercedes also broke an explicit gentleman's agreement between the teams when it ran its 'secret' test in May. The magazine published a copy of the signed 'Testing Agreement 2013', featuring the signature of every team boss, including the under-fire Ross Brawn. The document shows that F1's eleven teams agreed that in the event Pirelli wanted to run development testing for 2014, any test would have to be jointly […]

Mercedes is set to face the FIA's brand-new international tribunal in Paris on June 20 Mercedes will face the tribunal following a private test with Pirelli in May at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona. Several leading figures in the sport are expecting sanctions for Mercedes. Horner: Lack of transparency disappointing Brawn: Test was private, not secret Sauber team boss Monisha Kaltenborn told Auto Motor und Sport that "a contract can't overrule a law." Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko told Blick "a fine and a […]