| By Ben Anderson | Thursday, May 29th 2014, 10:51 GMT |
The tense relationship between Formula 1 rivals Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg is "very different" to that of Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna, according to Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.
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| By Ben Anderson | Thursday, May 29th 2014, 14:38 GMT |
Kevin Magnussen is struggling to deal with the fact McLaren's Formula 1 car is not capable of winning races, suffering from what Eric Boullier calls "rookie syndrome".
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| By Ben Anderson | Thursday, May 29th 2014, 12:00 GMT |
Fernando Alonso says the Mercedes and Red Bull Formula 1 teams "deserve" the dominant success they have enjoyed in recent seasons.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, May 25th 2014, 18:54 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel's chances of a podium finish in the Monaco Grand Prix were wrecked by a turbo failure on his Red Bull-Renault
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| By Edd Straw and Jonathan Noble | Sunday, May 25th 2014, 19:13 GMT |
Jules Bianchi believes Marussia's first Formula 1 points finish in the Monaco Grand Prix was not just down to luck, as he feels the team has made genuine progress
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| By Jonathan Noble | Saturday, May 24th 2014, 17:50 GMT |
Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff insists there was nothing suspicious about Nico Rosberg's wild steering movements on the entry to Mirabeau during the controversial end to Monaco Grand Prix qualifying
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| By Ben Anderson | Saturday, May 24th 2014, 18:05 GMT |
Toro Rosso's Formula 1 rookie Daniil Kvyat says he was "lucky" to continue qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix, after striking the barrier in Q1
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 23rd 2014, 13:13 GMT |
Mercedes will find it hard to avoid a breakdown in relations between Formula 1 title rivals Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, reckons four-time champion Alain Prost
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, May 23rd 2014, 13:56 GMT |
Kimi Raikkonen is suffering the same issues with Ferrari's 2014 Formula 1 car as team-mate Fernando Alonso, according to the team's technical director James Allison
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 23rd 2014, 15:25 GMT |
Jenson Button says progress not points is the key thing he wants at the Monaco Grand Prix.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, May 22nd 2014, 18:01 GMT |
Lotus believes the key to its Monaco Grand Prix chances is getting its tyres working properly
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| By Ben Anderson | Thursday, May 22nd 2014, 18:05 GMT |
Ferrari has revealed that a gearbox problem restricted Kimi Raikkonen's running in the second free practice session for the Monaco Grand Prix, in which Fernando Alonso set the fastest time
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, May 21st 2014, 18:45 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel thinks Mercedes' current Formula 1 dominance is greater than his Red Bull team has ever had - although he hopes Monaco proves his outfit is closing the gap
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, May 21st 2014, 17:29 GMT |
Red Bull will have to change the design of the front camera pods on its Formula 1 car from this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix following a clarification from the FIA
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, May 21st 2014, 17:59 GMT |
Jenson Button has predicted that major track resurfacing in Monte Carlo is going to make life extra hard for Formula 1 drivers at this weekend's Monaco Grand Prix
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, May 20th 2014, 13:27 GMT |
Lotus fears it may have a fight on its hands to keep hold of Romain Grosjean if it does not keep pushing up the Formula 1 grid this season.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, May 20th 2014, 13:05 GMT |
The Mercedes Formula 1 team fears that one of the biggest advantages it had at the Monaco Grand Prix may be wiped out because its 2014 car is so good
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, May 20th 2014, 15:43 GMT |
Renault fears that some of its Formula 1 drivers are on course to face grid penalties later this year because of early season reliability niggles.
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| By Ben Anderson | Monday, May 19th 2014, 12:24 GMT |
Force India is planning a "significant" upgrade for July's British Grand Prix, as the Formula 1 team bids to maintain its early-season form
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, May 19th 2014, 13:51 GMT |
Renault has rubbished talk that Mercedes' current advantage in Formula 1 is down to its use of a radical split concept on its turbo engine
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, May 19th 2014, 15:25 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton insists that just beating Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Nico Rosberg to grand prix wins is not good enough, because he thinks he should be well clear of him
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, May 18th 2014, 13:27 GMT |
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has played down talk he could lose technical boss Adrian Newey to Ferrari, insisting the design genius has 'paternal feelings' for his current team
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 16th 2014, 12:36 GMT |
Formula 1 teams believe that fuel has now become a key part of the sport's technology development fight.
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| Monday, May 19th 2014, 01:27 GMT |
Sir Jack Brabham, the three-time Formula 1 world champion, has died at the age of 88.
A statement from the Brabham family said that the Australian passed away peacefully at his home on the Gold Coast on Monday morning.
Brabham was the first man to win an F1 title in a car of his own making, as he established the Brabham team in the early 1960s after winning his first two F1 titles with Cooper.
It was with Cooper that he had made his F1 debut in 1955, having begun his career in midget racing and hillclimbs in Australia at the start of the decade.
After initially focusing on the team's sportscar and Formula 2 efforts around sporadic grand prix outings, he became a full-time F1 driver in 1958.
His maiden victory came in Monaco at the start of the following season, and kicked off two ultra-successful years that brought him both the 1959 and '60 world championship titles.
He created the Brabham team for 1962, initially running a Lotus while the first of his design partner Ron Tauranac's creations was completed.
It would be his initial team-mate Dan Gurney who took the Brabham team's first wins, but in 1966 a run of four mid-season victories set Brabham up for his third and final F1 crown, this time in his own car - a so far unique achievement. The Brabham team also won constructors' titles in both 1966 and '67.
Brabham retired at the end of the 1970 season, which he had begun with a 14th and final GP win at Kyalami, selling the team at the same time.
While his eponymous squad went on to further title successes with Nelson Piquet under Bernie Ecclestone's ownership, Brabham was able to watch his three sons Geoff, Gary and David embark on highly successful motorsport careers in their own right.
Grandsons Matthew and Sam have also commenced single-seater racing careers in recent seasons.
"It's a very sad day for all of us," said David Brabham. "My father passed away peacefully at home at the age of 88 this morning.
"He lived an incredible life, achieving more than anyone would ever dream of and he will continue to live on through the astounding legacy he leaves behind."
A full obituary and further coverage of Sir Jack Brabham's life and career will follow
| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 16th 2014, 12:16 GMT |
Nico Rosberg says he is heading to the Monaco Grand Prix more confident about the braking and start problems that have affected his Formula 1 form recently
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, May 16th 2014, 10:20 GMT |
Renault has called for a sense of perspective over the current noise debate in Formula 1, saying attempts by rival Mercedes to improve engine sound were made in "good faith"
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 16th 2014, 12:36 GMT |
Formula 1 teams believe that fuel has now become a key part of the sport's technology development fight.
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, May 16th 2014, 10:20 GMT |
Renault has called for a sense of perspective over the current noise debate in Formula 1, saying attempts by rival Mercedes to improve engine sound were made in "good faith"
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 16th 2014, 12:16 GMT |
Nico Rosberg says he is heading to the Monaco Grand Prix more confident about the braking and start problems that have affected his Formula 1 form recently
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, May 16th 2014, 12:36 GMT |
Formula 1 teams believe that fuel has now become a key part of the sport's technology development fight.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, May 15th 2014, 14:09 GMT |
Red Bull says that Daniel Ricciardo has already done enough to leave no doubts that he will be kept on for the 2015 Formula 1 world championship season
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, May 15th 2014, 11:14 GMT |
Formula 1 is making a mistake in pushing forward with radical rule changes to try to boost the spectacle before it knows fully what fans want, reckons Pirelli's Paul Hembery
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, May 15th 2014, 12:00 GMT |
Lotus is convinced that it can now target a top three finish in the Formula 1 world championship, ahead of Ferrari, having recovered from its troubled start to 2014
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| By Edd Straw and Ben Anderson | Sunday, May 11th 2014, 18:06 GMT |
Felipe Massa described his Spanish Grand Prix as a "disaster", after failing to score points from a race in which his Williams Formula 1 team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished fifth
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| By Ben Anderson | Sunday, May 11th 2014, 16:41 GMT |
A sensor failure on his Renault Formula 1 power unit cost Romain Grosjean the chance to beat the Ferraris in the Spanish Grand Prix
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| By Edd Straw and Ben Anderson | Sunday, May 11th 2014, 18:06 GMT |
Felipe Massa described his Spanish Grand Prix as a "disaster", after failing to score points from a race in which his Williams Formula 1 team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished fifth
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| By Ben Anderson | Sunday, May 11th 2014, 16:41 GMT |
A sensor failure on his Renault Formula 1 power unit cost Romain Grosjean the chance to beat the Ferraris in the Spanish Grand Prix
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| By Edd Straw | Saturday, May 10th 2014, 17:07 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel will be hit with a five-place grid penalty for Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, Red Bull has confirmed
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| By Ben Anderson | Saturday, May 10th 2014, 17:01 GMT |
Valtteri Bottas hailed significant set-up changes to his Williams Formula 1 car after the final free practice session for helping him to qualify fourth for the Spanish Grand Prix
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| Saturday, May 10th 2014, 17:40 GMT |
Grid penalties for Sebastian Vettel and Jean-Eric Vergne mean slight changes to the Spanish Grand Prix starting order after qualifying
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, May 8th 2014, 16:45 GMT |
Williams has faith that changes Rob Smedley has made will ensure there is no repeat of the pitstop blunder that cost Felipe Massa at the Chinese Grand Prix
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| By Ben Anderson | Thursday, May 8th 2014, 18:07 GMT |
Daniel Ricciardo reckons the Red Bull Formula 1 team is taking him more seriously as a driver thanks to his strong early-season form
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| By Ben Anderson | Wednesday, May 7th 2014, 15:31 GMT |
Valtteri Bottas says Williams is in the best shape he has known since joining the team as a Formula 1 reserve in 2010
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| Wednesday, May 7th 2014, 14:42 GMT |
Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel will get a new chassis for the Spanish Grand Prix, but Red Bull says it was long-scheduled rather than a reaction to recent form
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| By Ben Anderson | Wednesday, May 7th 2014, 16:24 GMT |
Jenson Button fears it will be the second half of the season before anyone can realistically carry the fight to Mercedes in the Formula 1 world championship
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| Tuesday, May 6th 2014, 11:23 GMT |
Al Pease, who started two Formula 1 world championship grands prix in Eagle machinery in the late 1960s, died on Sunday at the age of 92.
British-born, he moved to North America after the Second World War and settled in Canada, entering what was now his home grand prix from 1967-69 driving an Eagle-Climax T1G on all three occasions.
Driving uncompetitive machinery, he qualified 15th and 17th for the 1967 and '69 races, but was unable to start in '68 because of engine problems.
He was running at the finish in 1967, but not classified as he was, infamously, 43 laps down, although this was primarily the result of recurring battery problems.
By 1969, the Eagle was even more uncompetitive and he was black-flagged after incurring the ire of too many frontrunning drivers while being lapped.
While his outings in grand prix racing were characterised by a lack of pace and earned him an unfair reputation, in Canadian national motorsport Pease showed his worth.
There, he was a serial race and title-winner, enjoying success in categories such as the Canadian Road Racing Championship.
After starting out racing sportscars in the 1950s, Pease diversified into single-seaters and was still competing in historic events in the late eighties. He will be remembered as a significant figure in Canadian motorsport.
| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, May 6th 2014, 12:37 GMT |
Jenson Button thinks that McLaren must get a better understanding of its 2014 Formula 1 car to make progress, rather than just rely on future updates to improve performance
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| By Ben Anderson | Tuesday, May 6th 2014, 15:22 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton says he is focused on doing better at circuits on which he has generally been weaker than Mercedes Formula 1 team-mate Nico Rosberg
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| By Edd Straw | Monday, May 5th 2014, 10:54 GMT |
Scuderia Toro Rosso's upgrade package for the Spanish Grand Prix is only the first in a series of developments for the next four Formula 1 races
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, May 5th 2014, 08:48 GMT |
Niki Lauda believes Mercedes is doing a better job in dominating Formula 1 this year than Red Bull did when it was winning everything at the end of last season.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, May 5th 2014, 11:24 GMT |
Formula 1 teams should waste no time in implementing changes to make cars more spectacular, claims former driver Derek Warwick.
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| Friday, May 2nd 2014, 15:30 GMT |
Nigel Stepney, the former Ferrari mechanic who was at the centre of the 2007 Formula 1 'spygate' scandal, has died.
The 56-year-old was involved in a road traffic accident in Kent in the early hours of Friday morning.
A statement from the Kent Police said that investigations were underway as to the cause of the incident.
PC Glen Braidwood of Kent Police's Serious Collision Investigation Unit said: "A silver VW caddy van, driven by a 56 year-old man from the Essex area, had stopped on the hard shoulder of the M20 Londonbound carriageway at Ashford.
"For reasons yet to be established, the man appears to have entered the carriageway and was then in collision with an articulated goods vehicle. He was pronounced deceased at the scene."
Stepney enjoyed a lengthy career in F1, working for Shadow, Lotus, Benetton and Ferrari.
Having left F1 in the wake of the 2007 spy affair between McLaren and Ferrari, Stepney most recently worked in sportscars - joining the JRM outfit in 2010.
James Rumsey, the owner of JRM, was one of the first to pay tribute to Stepney.
"Nigel was an intense and fierce competitor and always strived for excellence in our racing," he said.
"We certainly could not have achieved our level of success without his leadership and experience.
"Away from the track, he was a focused, driven and passionate member of the JRM Group, and a loving father to his family.
"The rest of the engineering and race team here at JRM learned an unimaginable amount from Nigel in the four short years he was with us and his death this morning has shocked everyone to the core.
"Today, the motorsport world has lost one of its greatest characters and competitors. He will be sorely missed and we send our sincere condolences to his family and the many friends he leaves behind."
| Friday, May 2nd 2014, 15:59 GMT |
Nigel Stepney was a key player in Ferrari's dominance of Formula 1 during the Michael Schumacher era but achieved notoriety for his involvement in the spy scandal of 2007.
Stepney's first role in motorsport was with the Broadspeed touring car team as an apprentice mechanic.
There, he worked on Broadspeed's successful touring car programmes before moving into F1 with the Shadow team.
In 1979, he began a long association with Elio de Angelis, following the Italian to Lotus the following year as number one mechanic.
When de Angelis moved to Brabham in 1986, Stepney stayed at Lotus where he worked with Ayrton Senna.
Stepney moved to Benetton ahead of the 1989 season, staying at the team for four seasons, during which he worked with Nelson Piquet and Michael Schumacher.
He worked outside of F1 in 1992, running the Piquet Racing squad that ran Olivier Beretta in Formula 3000, but after an unsuccessful season returned to F1 with Ferrari.
Stepney played a crucial role in turning Ferrari into a well-organised squad, a process accelerated by Jean Todt's appointment to run the team in mid-1993.
In 1994, Stepney was one of the Ferrari mechanics struck by the wheel shed by Michele Alboreto's Minardi in the pits during the San Marino Grand Prix.
Six years later, during the Spanish GP, he was involved in another pitstop incident when Schumacher was released before Stepney had detached the refuelling hose.
Stepney was dragged to the floor, sustaining ligament damage, but soon returned to work.
He held the key roles of chief mechanic and race/test technical manager at Ferrari before being appointed head of performance development late on.
Stepney admitted to being unhappy with Ferrari in early 2007 and his time with the team came to an end when he became embroiled in the McLaren spy scandal.
He was accused by the Scuderia both of sabotaging the team's cars and passing its intellectual property to rival squad McLaren and was dismissed by the team in July that year.
Stepney admitted to the FIA that he did pass on sensitive information to McLaren but later downplayed the scale of his involvement.
He escaped any sporting censure beyond it being recommended teams should not associate with him.
He was sentenced to 20 months in prison for his part in the affair by an Italian court in 2010 but did not serve any time.
By then, he had already returned to motorsport, in 2008 joining on-board camera specialist Gigawave, which also fielded a sportscar team.
In 2010, he joined the JRM team, running factory Nissan equipment in sportscars.
There, Stepney worked as technical director, leading the team to victory in the FIA GT Championship in 2011 with Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr.
The squad then moved into prototypes in the World Endurance Championship, running HPD machinery to sixth in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2012 with David Brabham, Peter Dumbreck and Karun Chandhok.
The JRM-developed Nissan GT-R NISMO GT3 took Lucas Ordonez to last year's Blancpain Endurance Pro-Am Cup championship title and the outfit continues to support customer squads this year.
| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, May 4th 2014, 13:31 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton says he is doing everything he can to ensure there is no repeat of the kind of close-racing between himself and Nico Rosberg that thrilled Formula 1 fans in Bahrain.
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| By Edd Straw | Wednesday, April 30th 2014, 12:45 GMT |
Luca di Montezemolo claims that he was in talks with Ayrton Senna that could have brought the Brazilian to the Ferrari Formula 1 team when he was killed in 1994.
The Ferrari president revealed on the team's website that he met with Senna four days before the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.
He insists Senna was keen to switch to Ferrari and that ways of allowing him to move from Williams were going to be evaluated.
"He wanted to come to Ferrari and I wanted him in the team," said di Montezemolo.
"When he was in Italy for the San Marino Grand Prix, we met at my home in Bologna on Wednesday 27 April.
"He told me he really appreciated the stand we had taken against the excessive use of electronic aids for driving, which didn't allow a driver's skill to shine through.
"We spoke for a long time and he made it clear to me that he wanted to end his career at Ferrari, having come close to joining us a few years earlier.
"We agreed to meet again so as to look at how we could overcome his contractual obligations at the time.
"We were both in agreement that Ferrari would be the ideal place for him to further his career, which to date had been brilliant, even unique."
Di Montezemolo also paid tribute to Senna's approach to racing.
"I always appreciated Ayrton's style of racing," he said.
"As with all great champions, he had an incredible will to win and never tired of seeking perfection, trying to improve all the time.
"He was extraordinary in qualifying, but also a great battler in the races, when he always fought tooth and nail."
This week's AUTOSPORT magazine - available online and in shops from Thursday May 1 - is an Imola 1994 special, commemorating 20 years since the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger:
The Imola grid looks back
The drivers from the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix recall their experiences from one of motorsport's darkest weekends.
Senna's legacy in Brazil
Brazilian correspondent Lito Cavalcanti investigates how Senna changed Brazil, and how he is still remembered.
Prost on Senna
Senna's great rival talks about how their rift healed in the final months of Ayrton's life.
Berger on Senna
Senna's former McLaren team-mate on how the duo became good friends.
Ratzenberger remembered
Adam Cooper looks back at the Austrian's pursuit of his F1 dream, which ended so tragically at Imola.
Brabham on Simtek
David Brabham reveals he feels lucky to have got out of the 1994 San Marino GP alive.
Analysis: how Imola 1994 changed F1
Edd Straw assesses the way Formula 1 reacted to the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger.
| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, April 30th 2014, 15:56 GMT |
Perceptions of Ayrton Senna as arguably Formula 1's greatest driver are not just the result of his life being cut short in its prime, says his former boss Ron Dennis.
The Brazilian's status has continued to grow ever since he was killed at Imola in 1994, with the F1 world's outpouring of emotion on the 20th anniversary of that weekend showing how highly he is still regarded.
But while Senna's death has helped immortalise his legend, Dennis says that the three-time world champion's talent and human qualities are just as important in explaining why he is still worshipped.
When asked why he believed so many people consider Senna to have been the greatest, Dennis said: "I think because he was so good for all the period he was on the planet.
"I can see no positives in the fact that he had an accident and lost his life, but what you didn't see is any decline.
"You remember he was just unbelievably competitive and then boom, he is not there. So what do you remember?
"I have never thought, 'I wonder what Ayrton would look like if he was here today.'
"But above all, he was great. He had good human values. He was very principled.
"I remember of course the race in Suzuka [in 1990], where he and [Alain] Prost collided at the first corner.
"I looked at all the traces, the brake and the throttle pedals, and you didn't need to be Einstein to work out what happened. He came back to the pits and I said, 'I am disappointed in you'.
"He got it. He didn't have to say any more. It was one of his rare moments of weakness."
This week's AUTOSPORT magazine - available online and in shops from Thursday May 1 - is an Imola 1994 special, commemorating 20 years since the deaths of Ayrton Senna and Roland Ratzenberger:
The Imola grid looks back
The drivers from the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix recall their experiences from one of motorsport's darkest weekends.
Senna's legacy in Brazil
Brazilian correspondent Lito Cavalcanti investigates how Senna changed Brazil, and how he is still remembered.
Prost on Senna
Senna's great rival talks about how their rift healed in the final months of Ayrton's life.
Berger on Senna
Senna's former McLaren team-mate on how the duo became good friends.
Ratzenberger remembered
Adam Cooper looks back at the Austrian's pursuit of his F1 dream, which ended so tragically at Imola.
Brabham on Simtek
David Brabham reveals he feels lucky to have got out of the 1994 San Marino GP alive.
Analysis: how Imola 1994 changed F1
Edd Straw assesses the way Formula 1 reacted to the deaths of Senna and Ratzenberger.
| By Jonathan Noble and Gary Watkins | Wednesday, April 30th 2014, 16:15 GMT |
Azerbaijan claims that it has signed a deal that will result in it hosting Formula 1's European Grand Prix in 2016.
The country's capital Baku has been linked with F1 for several months, but local political chiefs now suggest a contract has been agreed with Bernie Ecclestone to hold a street race in two years' time, a year after the former Soviet republic hosts the inaugural European Games.
Azad Rahimov, Azerbaijan's Minister of Youth and Sports, was quoted as saying by the Inside the Games website that an official announcement confirming the race will be made imminently.
"We have signed the deal with Bernie Ecclestone and will announce it officially with an event in Baku shortly," he said.
Baku has hosted Azerbaijan's first international motor races over the past two years: the non-championship Baku City Challenge took place on a 1.33-mile street circuit in 2012 and last year it held the FIA GT Series finale on a new 2.72-mile layout.
The city is scheduled to host the final round of this year's Blancpain Sprint Series, which takes over from FIA GTs, this November.
It has yet to emerge whether the grand prix would run on the streets of Baku or on an all-new F1 facility near the city.
AUTOSPORT SAYS...
Gary Watkins, sportscar correspondent
@gazzasportscars
Baku would need to come up with a completely new circuit for Formula 1.
Neither of the tracks laid out on the streets of the Azerbaijan capital for its end-of-season GT races in 2012 and '13 could form the basis of an F1 venue.
The point-and-squirt circuit used in year was under a mile and a half in length and offered little challenge, while last season's 2.72-mile track was only homologated to FIA grade 3 and would be unsuitable for anything much faster than a GT3 car.
