The Mercedes Formula One team were ordered on Wednesday to appear before the sport's international tribunal for allegedly breaking the rules by testing during the season with their current car. Formula One's governing body, the International Automobile Federation (FIA), said in a statement it had decided on the action after investigating the test conducted in Spain with tyre supplier Pirelli between May 15-17. Ferrari, who conducted a similar 1,000 km test in Spain in April but with a 2011 car and test driver, faced no […]

Nico Rosberg secured the second win of his career after dominating the Monaco Grand Prix. Rosberg led all 78 laps around the Principality and was comfortably ahead of runner up Sebastian Vettel. Vettel and team-mate Mark Webber overtook Lewis Hamilton during a safety car period to clear up debris following an accident for Felipe Massa. Massa suffered a carbon copy of his practice shunt and was taken to the medical centre as a precaution. Racing resumed but the action was red flagged on Lap 46 […]

Nico Rosberg set the fastest time during opening practice for the Monaco Grand Prix. Rosberg's time of 1:16.195 was marginally quicker than Ferrari's Fernando Alonso. Every driver set their quickest time on the prime, soft, tyre. Romain Grosjean was third, ahead of Felipe Massa and Lewis Hamilton. Williams's Pastor Maldonado impressed by setting the sixth fastest time as the team trialled a stepped nose in their FW35. 2012 winner Mark Webber was seventh, with McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Sergio Perez in eighth and ninth. […]

Fernando Alonso says he is not too scared by Mercedes, despite the team locking out the front row in Spain. Alonso qualified in fifth place for his home race and reckons Kimi Raikkonen - who starts from fourth - will be a threat. "It’s a well known fact that Saturday afternoon is our weak point and fifth place is more or less what we were expecting," said the Spaniard. "We were well aware that Red Bull and Mercedes would both be very strong, but while […]

A big topic of conversation in Barcelona this weekend is Pirelli's new 'hard' compound tyre. While the Italian supplier claims it is a minor tweak, others are concerned the change will favour only some teams. The team that lobbied hardest for changes is Red Bull. "I think there was more talk than action from our side," world champion Sebastian Vettel said on Thursday. "For sure there's a lot of attention and people trying to make up stories, but I think you could see the whole […]

Qualifying is no longer as important as in the past, according to Mark Webber. "Previously," the Australian is quoted by the German-language T-Online website, "qualifying was almost everything -- 75 to 80 per cent. "It's now much less than that," the Red Bull driver added. Webber, 36, has been one of the leading critics of the 'new' Formula One, in which Pirelli's heavily degrading control tyres are dominating. Now, starting position is arguably completely outweighed by race strategy and tyre management. "There's still a little […]

In a 'secret' meeting over the winter, it was agreed that stewards should impose less penalties in 2013 in order to spice up the action. That is the claim on Tuesday of Germany's Auto Motor und Sport, reporting that the meeting with FIA president Jean Todt was attended by drivers including world champion Sebastian Vettel, team managers, Charlie Whiting and stewards. "Has it been noticed?" wrote correspondent Michael Schmidt. "The drivers are being punished much less." He said the outcome of the pre-season meeting was […]

Heikki Kovalainen sampled Caterham's CT03 for the first time and reckons it is trickier to find a balance compared to 2012's CT01. The Finn returned to track action for the first time since last year's Brazilian Grand Prix to help Caterham pinpoint the issues with the CT03. "The main priority today was to help give my impressions of the 2013 car in the spec it ran in for the first three races this year against the car I raced last year, and to give my […]

Paul Hembery has admitted Pirelli might change tack after Sunday's Bahrain grand prix, in the wake of heavy criticism of its 2013 tyres. Mercedes' Niki Lauda, who like Red Bull has been complaining the loudest about the fragile tyres and their impact on F1 this year, said in China that Pirelli has agreed to supply more durable compounds for Barcelona and beyond. Hembery, Pirelli's F1 boss, acknowledged the legendary triple world champion's words, but insists the Italian marque "needs these four races" at the start […]

Some members of F1's travelling circus admitted their frustration at the end of the Chinese grand prix. "It's quite excruciating," McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by the Telegraph, "trying to save tyres non-stop from start to finish. "It feels painful, and however bad it is for me, it must be a lot worse if you have to drive like that." He is referring to the new situation caused by Pirelli's rapidly-wearing 2013 tyres. Some hail the new era that stands in stark contrast […]

Fernando Alonso says his race could not have been better, having taken victory in the Chinese Grand Prix. Alonso took he lead from Lewis Hamilton early on and managed a three stop strategy to beat Kimi Raikkonen by 10 seconds. "It couldn’t have gone better than this today! I hadn’t won since Germany and this has a special feeling because it was a tricky race full of action," said Alonso. "Along with the second place I got in Australia, this result shows that the car […]

Reigning world champion Sebastian Vettel has said that he has not had support from Mark Webber during their career as team mates. Vettel passed Webber for the race lead during the Malaysian Grand Prix, directly against the wishes of his team. "The bottom line is I was racing, I was faster, I passed him, I won," Vettel said during his media conference in China. Vettel also believes Webber has not helped the team in the past. "I never had support from his side. In terms […]