F1 2016 Tag

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The FIA World Motorsport Council has formally ratified the calendar for the 2016 Formula One World Championship. Only one change was made over the provisional calendar, the Mexican Grand Prix will be moved forward one week to October 30th, giving the teams back to back races with the U.S. race set to take place on October 23rd. There is still doubt over the U.S. race due to funding issues between Circuit of the Americas and the state of Texas. The season begins and ends in theRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Coming off of its most successful year in Formula One to date, Force India, the little team that could is set to make a name change and become Aston Martin Racing from 2016 onward. Their Mercedes engine contract and strong finish of fifth in the Constructor’s championship has caught the eye of Aston Martin who is keen to be back racing in the public eye and is conveniently set to begin using Mercedes engine’s in its road cars in the near future. It will be theRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor An examination of the 2015 Formula One season clearly shows a noticeable dip in the performance of the Williams cars in the latter half of the season. According to Performance Chief Rob Smedley this is because the team stopped development of the FW37 early once they realized they would secure third place in the Constructors’ standings but couldn’t reach Ferrari for second. “We stopped development on this car quite a long time ago having projected we would have a comfortable third position in the championship andRead More

By Adam Tate, Managing Editor The next Formula One strategy group meeting is Tuesday in Paris and details of its agenda have been revealed to the press. Chief among the items to be discussed include the proposal to introduce a budget engine in 2017 to lower costs for customer teams. The highly controversial topic came about after Ferrari exercised its veto ability when the sport tried to introduce a cost cap for engines. The proposed budget power units are expected to take up a majority of the meeting. The docket alsoRead More

Lewis Hamilton, basking in the moment of claiming his third world championship took a friendly jab at Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel today in the post race press conference. Hamilton talked about all the times he sat there when it was Vettel’s day and now that it was his, he was going to talk for longer than Vettel did when the German won his four world titles. It garnered laughter from the room and from Vettel, but Sebastian’s range of emotions during the Q&A showed a man quietly analyzing his season, hisRead More

In an extraordinary move of empathy, hard nosed McLaren-Honda boss Ron Dennis has reportedly blocked Red Bull Racing from securing Honda power units for 2016. Despite assurances from Christian Horner that, “quitting is not an option” Red Bull’s predicament looks even worse than the weather in Austin this weekend. After having the door shut in their face by Mercedes and then Ferrari, Ron Dennis may be putting the final nail in the coffin of F1’s youngest super power. Supplying another team with engines for next season could stretch issue plaguedRead More

Formula One weaves a tangled web – as per multiple reports, the much rumored buyout of Lotus F1 Team by Renault is set to commence. Renault group CEO Carlos Ghosn and his board have signed off on a deal that now only needs the approval of Lotus to be set in motion. The plan will have the French automotive giant acquire a 65 percent stake in the F1 team that just seven years ago was 100 percent under their control. Gerard Lopez will remain in the picture with a largeRead More

Gene Haas has revealed today that he is looking at a very short list for potential drivers of his new eponymous F1 outing and none of them are Alex Rossi. Despite rumors and fan hopes for an American in Formula One again, Haas said his short list is narrowed down to the trio of Jean-Eric Vergne, Esteban Gutierrez and Nico Hulkenberg. Haas is in no hurry to decide just yet, opting to wait on how the driver market shakes out, but drivers with recent F1 experience are what he isRead More

Sauber played its hand in the 2016 driver market today by announcing contract extensions with both Marcus Ericsson and Felipe Nasr. This comes after intense speculation over Nasr’s 2016 seat. The Brazilian had been rumored for a ride at Williams to replace the seemingly Ferrari bound Valtteri Bottas. It also seeks to bring much needed stability to Sauber after several seasons where they had a revolving door of drivers coming and going – culminating in the controversial lawsuit brought to the team by former driver Geido Van der Garde earlierRead More

Scuderia Ferrari partner Gene Haas is working hard behind the scenes to ensure his new American Formula One team, Haas F1 makes a splash when it enters the sport in 2016. Haas’ partnership and preparations with Ferrari have come under scrutiny from rival outfits throughout the season due to fears Ferrari is bending the strictly regulated wind tunnel rules by using data gathered from Haas’ development process. The extensive partnership builds upon proposals Force India and Sauber have put forth asking for increased help from the big teams in aRead More