Ferrari say it was their call not to bring Fernando Alonso into the pits at the end of the opening lap. Alonso damaged his front wing after tagging Sebastian Vettel but did not pit to repair the damage. The Spaniard's front wing became lodged under his car and he spun off on Lap 2. "Today, unfortunately, we were very unlucky. After making a good start, I touched with Vettel at the second corner: it was a surprise to find him there, almost stopped and I […]

Sebastian Vettel's defence of his title got off to the ideal start after topping both practice sessions ahead of the Australian Grand Prix. Vettel's time of 1:25.908 was two-tenths quicker than team-mate Mark Webber. "Overall it was a good day for us. It was pretty seamless and there was no trouble with the car. After all the mileage of testing, it was fun to be out there – this circuit doesn’t get easier, it’s a good challenge," he said. "The soft tyre doesn’t last too […]

Nico Hulkenberg says he is eager to return to racing at next weekend's Australian Grand Prix. The German driver joins Sauber for his third season in the sport. "Finally the start of the season is coming closer. I left Europe yesterday. I’m really looking forward to this race," he said. "The track itself is very challenging for the drivers. It has got a lot of bumps and you have to know how best to deal with them." Hulkenberg admits that while he remains uncertain as […]

Caterham's Giedo van der Garde insists he doesn't fear the challenge of fellow strugglers Marussia ahead of next weekend's Australian Grand Prix. The Dutch driver joins the F1 grid this season with Caterham, having spent 2012 in GP2. "Not really," Van der Garde told GPUpdate when asked whether he was fearful of Marussia. "Marussia has progressed and Jules Bianchi is a fast guy who can adapt to a car in no time, but we have to wait until Melbourne to see where everyone stands," he […]

[singlepic id=8753 w=320 h=240 float=right]It’s the elephant in the room. Actually, it’s the elephant in the pit garage and then, later on, in the media centre. What am I talking about, I hear you say. Well, a very obvious missing feature at Force India’s launch at a chilly but bright Silverstone was half of the driver line-up. Paul di Resta took the covers off of the VJM06 before taking questions from the media in a corner of the media centre. He looked distinctly uneasy at […]

Bernie Ecclestone has said that political bickering could hinder progress with the 2013 German Grand Prix. Ecclestone has held talks with the Nurburgring over a deal for this year, but the cash-strapped circuit has so far yet to confirm whether a race will go ahead. Nurburgring and Hockenheim share the German round on a biannual basis, with the circuit in the Eifel mountains set to host the 2013 event. "The race is on-off, on-off. It's all a little bit political", Ecclestone said. "The Nurburgring is […]

Daniel Ricciardo has said that the Toro Rosso STR8 will be ready in time for the first pre-season test at Jerez in Spain. Testing begins on February 5th, with the Australian confirming that he will be driving on the first day of running. ""It looks good of course: the team say everything is running to plan and on schedule, which is the first thing you want to hear," Ricciardo told Toro Rosso via Skype. Ricciardo has spent the festive period in Australia but says he […]

Romain Grosjean has dropped a big hint about Lotus' 2013 plans, revealing the new Enstone-built single seater will be launched late this month. Speaking to the French sports news programme Stade 2, the Frenchman also revealed that he and continuing Lotus teammate Kimi Raikkonen will equally share the twelve days of pre-season testing in February. "The next few weeks for me will be intense training, with the presentation of the new car at the end of the month," said Grosjean. "Then I will have six […]

Nico Hulkenberg reflects on his 2012 season with Force India as he departs for pastures new at Sauber in 2013

With the Turkish Government reluctant to provide funding for a race at Istanbul Park, the sport could return to Austria at the Red Bull Ring, according to Dr. Helmut Marko

Taking a look back at some of Kimi Raikkonen's memorable quotes in 2012

Tyres Total number of tyres provided for the season: Race tyres: 31,800 of which 22,500 dry tyres and 9,300 wet tyres plus an additional 6,600 for the tests (not including development tyres) Of which (for race tyres only): supersoft: 6 % / soft: 25 % / medium: 21 % / hard: 17 % / intermediate: 18 % / wet: 11 % / 2 % development tyres Total numbers of tyres used: Dry tyres: 21,400; wet tyres: 2,100 Number of tyres recycled during 2012: All, i.e. […]