John Button, father of 2009 world champion Jenson, has passed away following a suspected heart attack. He was 70. John was found dead at his home in the South of France on Sunday. He enjoyed success as a rallycross driver in the 1970s before becoming an integral part in supporting son Jenson into Formula 1. John retained a presence in the Formula 1 paddock throughout Jenson's career. 'It is with great sadness and regret that I can confirm John Button passed away at his home […]

Felipe Massa insists he was "as fast, if not faster" than Fernando Alonso in qualifying trim this year. Ultimately, the Brazilian scored less than half the points of his high-profile teammate, and finally lost his Ferrari race seat. Massa will drive for Williams in 2014. "I know they are going through a tough phase," he is quoted by Finland's Turun Sanomat newspaper, "but I think that with the changes they're making, they can go back to what they were doing a few years ago. "I […]

Jean-Eric Vergne says that the 'big disappointment' at missing out on a Red Bull seat has led him to become a better driver. Mark Webber's retirement from Formula 1 opened up a seat with the world champions, but Red Bull opted to promote Vergne's Toro Rosso team-mate, Daniel Ricciardo. Vergne will continue with Toro Rosso in 2014 and believes that trying to understand Red Bull's decision has improved him as a driver. "It was a disappointment of course not to go to Red Bull. As […]

Red Bull has confirmed that Alex Lynn has joined their junior team after announcing that just three drivers will be part of the roster in 2014. Lynn spent 2013 racing in the Formula 3 European Championship, where he finished in third place. Lynn capped off his 2013 campaign with victory in the prestigious Macau Grand Prix. The Brit will race for Carlin in GP3 next season. "I think that it is obviously fantastic to be privileged enough to join the team that has produced so […]

McLaren supremo Ron Dennis has suggested he would not step in to prevent Fernando Alonso from returning to the British team. With the Woking based team looking ahead to its new era with works Honda power from 2015, boss Martin Whitmarsh has made no secret of his desire to see Alonso at the wheel. But when Dennis was still on the pitwall in 2007, he and Alonso fell out spectacularly, with the two-time world champion splitting from the team after just a single, tumultuous season […]

With every Formula 1 season comes a barrage of statistics and records – positive and negative – broken by a new wave of drivers. The 64th iteration of the championship was no different... Sebastian Vettel’s success in 2013 means that he has now won the title in more than half of the seasons he has entered in the sport. Vettel’s ninth successive victory draws him level with Alberto Ascari, with the German retaining the opportunity to hit double figures in Australia next March. Vettel matched […]

As part of our season review, here is the 2013 Formula 1 season from the mouths of those involved in the sport: the humorous, the memorable, the radio messages, and those, with hindsight, that some surely regret... “That competitiveness is going to keep growing and I guess we'll see more of it this year. But I'll try to contain it so I don't come across like a dickhead or something!” – Daniel Ricciardo reveals his intentions to improve in 2013. “This year's car is the […]

Reflecting on the young drivers progressing through the ranks, with a brief look at GP2, GP3, Formula Renault 3.5, Formula 3 and Formula Renault 2.0. GP2 Series: Swiss roll This season’s GP2 championship was far from a classic as neither title contender emerged as a serious candidate for a Formula 1 seat. Racing Engineering driver Fabio Leimer clinched the title during the penultimate race in Abu Dhabi; the Swiss driver won three feature races and bounced back to become the consistent benchmark after a middling […]

Norbert Haug, the former Mercedes competition boss, has bad news for the hopeful German marque. To now be headed by Paddy Lowe, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda, Mercedes is bullish about its 2014 hopes, having finished second in 2013 to the runaway champion team, Red Bull. "For everyone and for me the target is to win the world championship, both championships," driver Lewis Hamilton told the British broadcaster Sky after last weekend's 2013 finale in Brazil. "If we don't do it naturally there will be […]

After Ferrari denied it is the biggest spender in Formula One, McLaren says the most financially powerful team in pitlane is actually Red Bull. Like Ferrari, Red Bull denies it, but McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh insists "everyone knows" that the energy drink-owned team - the dominant world champions for the last four seasons consecutively - spends the most. In fact, Whitmarsh said that meteoric level of spending has actually "distorted the sport". And he said his counterpart Christian Horner's claim that Red Bull doesn't spend […]

Ferrari has "almost certainly" abandoned its novel approach to front suspension layout ahead of the 2014 season. That is the claim of the authoritative Italian publication Autosprint, after Ferrari came close to winning last year's title with the 'pullrod' system not seen on the F1 grid for more than a decade. Ferrari, however, fell well short of having the fastest car in 2013, despite Fernando Alonso managing to finish runner-up behind Red Bull's dominant Sebastian Vettel. Autosprint reports: "The 2014 Ferrari will almost certainly abandon […]

1997 world champion Jacques Villeneuve thinks Fernando Alonso would have won this year's title at the wheel of the 2013 Lotus car. The French Canadian told the Spanish sports daily AS that the Ferrari driver's performance this season was not quite as impressive as in 2012. "He (Alonso) is always at a high level," Villeneuve said at Interlagos, "but what we saw from Alonso in 2012 I have not seen this year. That was second to none -- the best I've seen. "This year, with […]