| By Lawrence Barretto and Ben Anderson | Friday, February 27th 2015, 20:05 GMT |
Mercedes is way ahead of the Formula 1 field according to its rivals, following Nico Rosberg's scintillating lap in the final pre-season test at Barcelona
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| By Lawrence Barretto and Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 27th 2015, 18:47 GMT |
Nico Hulkenberg says that a "remarkable" debut outing for the new Force India Formula 1 car is still not enough to make up for lost time ahead of the season
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, February 27th 2015, 20:24 GMT |
Jenson Button says completing over 100 laps for McLaren-Honda in Friday's Formula 1 test at Barcelona felt "like 1000 laps", because of the repeated troubles it has endured so far
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| By Mitchell Adam | Thursday, February 26th 2015, 19:00 GMT |
Ferrari is set to introduce new aerodynamic components on Friday, as it gradually upgrades its aero package during Barcelona's final pre-season test
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| By Lawrence Barretto | Thursday, February 26th 2015, 19:55 GMT |
Romain Grosjean believes the safety of drivers who are involved in crashes with a lateral impact needs to be improved following Fernando Alonso's accident last week
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| By Ben Anderson and Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 26th 2015, 19:57 GMT |
Felipe Massa believes that Mercedes still has the edge in Formula 1 - despite the Williams driver setting the fastest time of pre-season testing at Barcelona on Thursday
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 13:58 GMT |
Kevin Magnussen will return to the Formula 1 cockpit for this week's final pre-season test as replacement for Fernando Alonso in the McLaren-Honda
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 16:26 GMT |
The FIA has confirmed that it is to investigate the circumstances surrounding McLaren driver Fernando Alonso's Barcelona Formula 1 testing accident to find out if lessons can be learned
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| By Dieter Rencken and Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 16:50 GMT |
Formula 1's smaller outfits are pushing to be allowed to share more car parts in the future in a bid to help lower costs
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| By Matt Beer | Tuesday, February 24th 2015, 16:38 GMT |
Williams is set to give the first proper hint of where it stands going into the 2015 Formula 1 season when it applies an upgrade package for the final test that starts on Thursday
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| By Scott Mitchell | Tuesday, February 24th 2015, 12:13 GMT |
Susie Wolff has urged the FIA to reconsider Formula 1's superlicence criteria so that test drivers do not miss out on race seats from 2016
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| Wednesday, February 25th 2015, 01:11 GMT |
Gerard Ducarouge, the legendary Formula 1 designer who produced winning cars for Jackie Stewart and Ayrton Senna, has died. He was 73.
The Frenchman's career in motor racing began in the 1960s with Matra in junior categories, before he helped design the MS80 that Stewart used on the way to winning the 1969 F1 world championship. Ducarouge subsequently guided Matra to success at Le Mans in the following decade, as the marque took three straight 24 Hours wins from 1972-74.
Leaving Matra to join the new Ligier team, again proved his design genius as he helped guide the team to its maiden F1 win in the 1977 Swedish Grand Prix.
After being dropped by Ligier mid-season in 1979, and having a brief foray with Alfa Romeo, Ducarouge was snapped up by Lotus in mid-1983 for perhaps the most memorable spell of his career.
As the team was kept steady by Peter Warr following the death of Colin Chapman, Ducarouge was drafted in and again delivered all that was asked of him.
A push towards the front of the grid, helped by the arrival of Ayrton Senna as lead driver in 1985, produced some memorable race victories - including the Brazilian's famous maiden triumph at Estoril.
Another world championship title would elude him though and, as Lotus's fortunes faded in the 1990s, Ducarouge returned to France - first with Larrousse and then with Ligier, where he would remain until 1994.
Martin Brundle, who worked with Ducarouge in his final spell at Ligier, was one of the first to offer his condolences.
"That's sad, reading that F1 designer Gerard Ducarouge has died," he wrote on Twitter. "Worked with him at Ligier. Stylish, fun and clever man. RIP and condolences."
| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 23rd 2015, 15:45 GMT |
McLaren will decide later this week if Fernando Alonso will drive in the final Formula 1 pre-season test, while the Spaniard continues to recover in hospital following his Barcelona crash
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| By Scott Mitchell | Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 19:45 GMT |
New Sauber Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr says the team had "too many" problems after missing almost the entire morning of the final day of the second pre-season test
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| By Scott Mitchell | Monday, February 23rd 2015, 11:20 GMT |
Lotus driver Romain Grosjean set the fastest time of the second Formula 1 pre-season test, but Mercedes cast a shadow over all rivals at Barcelona
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| By Ben Anderson and Jonathan Noble | Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 19:17 GMT |
Nico Rosberg insists he was not too impressed with his performance in Formula 1 testing on Sunday that appeared to send an ominous message about the pace of Mercedes
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| By Scott Mitchell | Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 19:45 GMT |
New Sauber Formula 1 driver Felipe Nasr says the team had "too many" problems after missing almost the entire morning of the final day of the second pre-season test
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| By Matt Beer and Jonathan Noble | Sunday, February 22nd 2015, 19:32 GMT |
Toro Rosso team principal Franz Tost believes the decision to restrict testing to Europe this year is hurting preparations for the new Formula 1 season
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| By Ben Anderson and Lawrence Barretto | Saturday, February 21st 2015, 19:50 GMT |
Jenson Button believes the new McLaren-Honda has the potential to be a race-winning car by the end of the year once the Formula 1 team gets on top of its problems
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| By Matt Beer | Saturday, February 21st 2015, 19:10 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel admitted he was 'not awake' when he spun his Ferrari into the gravel on the opening lap of Barcelona Formula 1 testing on Saturday
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| By Matt Beer and Scott Mitchell | Saturday, February 21st 2015, 20:01 GMT |
Sebastian Vettel says Formula 1's move to ban helmet design changes may not be enough to deter him from tweaking his colours still
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| By Scott Mitchell and Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 20th 2015, 18:32 GMT |
Sergio Perez insists Force India is still gaining plenty from this week's Formula 1 test in Barcelona, despite only having its 2014 car
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| By Scott Mitchell and Lawrence Barretto | Friday, February 20th 2015, 19:01 GMT |
Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg says he is wary of the threat being by Ferrari based on its form so far in Formula 1 pre-season testing
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| By Ben Anderson | Friday, February 20th 2015, 19:59 GMT |
Fernando Alonso is unsure whether the McLaren-Honda Formula 1 team will be "completely ready" for the first race of 2015, because of reliability dramas that have blighted its pre-season testing
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| By Scott Mitchell | Thursday, February 19th 2015, 18:26 GMT |
Mercedes' running on the opening day of the second Formula 1 test was limited by a fuel system issue that hit stand-in driver Pascal Wehrlein in the afternoon at Barcelona
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| By Ben Anderson and Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 19th 2015, 18:43 GMT |
Daniel Ricciardo has admitted that Red Bull engine supplier Renault is still not where it needs to be at the second pre-season Formula 1 test at Barcelona
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| By Scott Mitchell and Matt Beer | Thursday, February 19th 2015, 19:22 GMT |
Susie Wolff declared her collision with Felipe Nasr in Barcelona Formula 1 testing a "stupid" incident, as the two drivers blamed each other for the tangle on Thursday
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| Wednesday, February 18th 2015, 11:26 GMT |
The phenomenon of drivers regularly changing helmets is a new one in Formula 1, for there was once a time when they would stick with the same colours through their career.
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 18th 2015, 10:57 GMT |
Formula 1 drivers will be banned from changing helmet designs in-season under new rules set to be introduced this year, AUTOSPORT can reveal
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| By Craig Scarborough | Wednesday, February 18th 2015, 18:52 GMT |
As we head into the second test of Formula 1's pre-season we shouldn't expect to see dramatic differences in car design or team performance but changes will be visible
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 17th 2015, 10:46 GMT |
The surge of excitement created by Ferrari's concept Formula 1 car shows that a big change to the look of grand prix machinery would be popular
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 17th 2015, 09:21 GMT |
Ferrari has released images of a striking-looking Formula 1 concept car that it hopes fuels the debate about the dramatic changes the sport should be considering
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 17th 2015, 14:50 GMT |
Formula 1's plans for a rules revolution have been delayed until at least 2017 after teams voted against a swift introduction for next year
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 16th 2015, 18:14 GMT |
Formula 1's move towards a rules revolution faces a key vote on Tuesday that should decide whether major changes to car design can happen in time for 2016
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 16th 2015, 10:41 GMT |
Renault has revealed that it may tactically delay using Formula 1 engine development tokens early this season in a bid to make bigger gains for 2016
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 16th 2015, 15:31 GMT |
Mercedes is convinced that its push to stay dominant in Formula 1 is helped by it supplying engines to so many teams
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 13th 2015, 13:40 GMT |
Renault believes that the input of engine guru Mario Illien could be key to it fast-tracking its bid to close on Mercedes in Formula 1
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 13th 2015, 18:21 GMT |
Manor's hopes of making it onto the 2015 Formula 1 grid have been boosted by the FIA making clear it will keep the entry list open as long as possible
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, February 15th 2015, 11:36 GMT |
McLaren has not ruled out returning to its radical rear suspension blocker system later this season, even though the concept did not appear on its new Formula 1 car
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 13th 2015, 13:40 GMT |
Renault believes that the input of engine guru Mario Illien could be key to it fast-tracking its bid to close on Mercedes in Formula 1
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 13th 2015, 10:47 GMT |
Force India's 2015 Formula 1 car will now not make its debut until the final Barcelona test, after a late push to complete the VJM08 for next week failed
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 13th 2015, 18:21 GMT |
Manor's hopes of making it onto the 2015 Formula 1 grid have been boosted by the FIA making clear it will keep the entry list open as long as possible
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 12th 2015, 11:26 GMT |
McLaren chairman Ron Dennis says he would rather be without a title sponsor than undersell the space on his team's Formula 1 car
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 12th 2015, 14:15 GMT |
Williams says that its 2015 Formula 1 car has maintained the low drag characteristics of its predecessor
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 12th 2015, 17:09 GMT |
Red Bull has dropped a firm hint that it may switch to a short Williams-style nose this season as Formula 1 teams continue to hunt for the best solution
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| Wednesday, February 11th 2015, 15:31 GMT |
Mercedes says its new Formula 1 car is more radical than it appears from the outside
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 11th 2015, 10:07 GMT |
Formula 1's plans to introduce a rules revolution in 2017 could be enough to lure Adrian Newey back to the sport full time, reckons Red Bull boss Christian Horner
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 11th 2015, 17:45 GMT |
Renault has urged caution over Formula 1's push towards 1000bhp engines, amid fears that costs could rise dramatically
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 10th 2015, 10:53 GMT |
Red Bull boss Christian Horner insists the problems Renault faced in Jerez Formula 1 testing last week are nowhere near the severity of its 2014 troubles
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 10th 2015, 11:17 GMT |
Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button are adamant that Honda can make sufficient progress over the next two Formula 1 tests to target a respectable result in the Australian Grand Prix
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 10th 2015, 12:35 GMT |
Ferrari's strong form in the first pre-season Formula 1 test has left rivals wary that it might have made a much bigger leap than expected over the winter
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| Monday, February 9th 2015, 11:47 GMT |
Former Formula 1 team boss Gian Carlo Minardi has accused the sport's bigger outfits of being short sighted in blocking Marussia's bid to return
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 9th 2015, 11:06 GMT |
Ferrari's performance grabbed the headlines at last week's Jerez Formula 1 test, but closer analysis of speed trap data shows there may still be a gulf between it and Mercedes
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| By Jonathan Noble | Monday, February 9th 2015, 15:37 GMT |
Romain Grosjean has faith that Lotus has the infrastructure it needs to make the most of its move to Mercedes Formula 1 power this season.
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| By Gerhard Kuntschik | Sunday, February 8th 2015, 11:33 GMT |
Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz believes Mercedes is set to dominate Formula 1 again this season based on indications from the first winter test at Jerez
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Saturday, February 7th 2015, 16:52 GMT |
Nico Rosberg says the under-threat German Grand Prix is a "legendary" part of Formula 1 and must not be lost from the calendar
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Sunday, February 8th 2015, 13:04 GMT |
McLaren boss Ron Dennis says a mellowing of his character and greater maturity from Fernando Alonso has allowed them to work together in Formula 1 again after their 2007 fall-out
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| Friday, February 6th 2015, 18:17 GMT |
Marussia insists its bid to get back on the Formula 1 grid for 2015 is viable, and that it will satisfy all the required conditions to return
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| By Jonathan Noble | Friday, February 6th 2015, 13:50 GMT |
Formula 1 teams have given the green light for work to continue on introducing 1000bhp engines in 2017, with car and tyre changes under consideration as early as next year
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| By Jonathan Noble and Matt Beer | Saturday, February 7th 2015, 16:52 GMT |
Nico Rosberg says the under-threat German Grand Prix is a "legendary" part of Formula 1 and must not be lost from the calendar
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| Thursday, February 5th 2015, 14:07 GMT |
The assets of the Caterham Formula 1 team have been put up for sale by the company's administrator
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| By Jonathan Noble | Thursday, February 5th 2015, 15:27 GMT |
Honda will introduce a host of upgrades to its latest Formula 1 engine for the next test at Barcelona to solve the reliability problems that it suffered at Jerez this week
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| Thursday, February 5th 2015, 20:44 GMT |
Marussia's attempted return to the Formula 1 grid has suffered a blow after the Strategy Group rejected the team's request to run its 2014 car this season
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| By Jonathan Noble | Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 16:56 GMT |
McLaren insists it knows how fast its Honda-powered 2015 Formula 1 car is capable of going and is not bothered by the compromised Jerez test laptimes
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| By Edd Straw and Jamie Klein | Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 17:28 GMT |
Lewis Hamilton admitted he was to blame for the spin that interrupted Mercedes' test programme on the final day of the first pre-season Formula 1 test at Jerez
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| By Ben Anderson and Matt Beer | Wednesday, February 4th 2015, 18:25 GMT |
Sauber has not been doing low-fuel 'glory runs' in a bid to chase Jerez Formula 1 testing headlines, insists Marcus Ericsson
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| By Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 3rd 2015, 19:49 GMT |
Renault has revealed that its Formula 1 testing efforts at Jerez have been hurt by reliability worries over what it calls a "stupid part" on its engine
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| By Ben Anderson | Tuesday, February 3rd 2015, 19:14 GMT |
Felipe Nasr reckons his Mercedes-powered Formula 1 rivals were "hiding" some performance, after his Sauber-Ferrari ended up topping the third day of pre-season testing at Jerez
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| By Dieter Rencken and Jonathan Noble | Tuesday, February 3rd 2015, 20:48 GMT |
Force India's new Formula 1 car is now unlikely to run until the final Barcelona test later this month, AUTOSPORT has learned
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| By Jonathan Noble | Sunday, February 1st 2015, 18:34 GMT |
McLaren will change the livery of its Formula 1 car, says chief Ron Dennis, but only when big sponsors come in to justify the switch.
The silver, black and red colour scheme that features on the new Honda-powered MP4-30 has been met with a lukewarm reaction from fans - who have complained that it is not enough of a departure from the team's Mercedes days.
Speaking about the matter on the opening day of pre-season testing at Jerez, Dennis explained that he was not willing to embrace a bold change of colours simply for the sake of it.
"We have had the same [discussions about livery] inside the team: all of these people were saying, why don't we make it orange - because that was the old colour of McLaren?" he said.
"Well, I say, 'you just said it - it was the old colour of McLaren. Why the hell do we want to go backwards?'
"So what do you do? Do you create an aesthetically pleasing design? But for what purpose?
"This is the livery of McLaren. It has always been a combination of these colours - and it will only change for commercial reasons.
"It won't change just to make a few people in the company happier because they want it orange or they want it yellow."
Dennis said he fully understood the complaints about the colours, but reckoned in the longer term it will result in a better situation when big sponsors come on board.
"It will be far more recognised if we suddenly come out with a lime green car for the following reason: you will all know that we have a great deal of money coming in. So why would you react to Twitter [complaints]?" he said.
"Yes we could change colour. Yes we could do something more daring. Yes we could do all these things. But give me a reason why?
"If it is just to make something more aesthetically pleasing, that is not enough reason for me.
"Don't worry - it will change. But I will not say when."
| By Edd Straw and Matt Beer | Sunday, February 1st 2015, 18:31 GMT |
Mercedes' Toto Wolff says he is trying to avoid over-confidence, but that his team's first day of 2015 Formula 1 testing at Jerez was the best start he has experienced.
Nico Rosberg completed 157 laps - 84 more than any of Mercedes' rivals - on the way to the third-fastest time on Sunday.
Asked if he could have predicted such a high mileage tally, Wolff joked: "You've discovered our secret project: it's Le Mans, we're doing endurance testing.
"No, I don't want to sound arrogant or over-confident. We need to stay humble.
"It was a really good first day. For me it was the best one I've seen in terms of mileage and reliability.
"We didn't push the limits in terms of the car and its systems.
"But for a first day we were very solid. Nico says it's one of the best first days he's had.
"Does it mean a lot? No. But it's better to have a good first day than a bad one."
Rosberg also urged against over-confidence despite Mercedes' strong performance.
"Are we ahead of the game? No. But we got off to a good start for ourselves," he said.
"Not comparing with anyone else, because it's not possible to compare at the moment.
"We can only judge in terms of what we wanted to achieve today, and we managed to achieve that.
"The laps that we wanted to do, the pitstop practice at the end, for us it was a good start."
The 2014 F1 runner-up added that the new W06 felt promising in its handling as well as its reliability.
"I can just say that I have a good feeling," said Rosberg.
"There is no reason for it, there are no numbers for it, it's just a feeling.
"It's been reliable, no major problems, and the car balance feels more or less decent.
"Of course it's not perfect, and there's still some work to do, and I look forward to that work, starting tonight."
| By Ben Anderson and Matt Beer | Sunday, February 1st 2015, 19:07 GMT |
Valtteri Bottas is already convinced that the 2015 Williams Formula 1 car is a step forward from last year's FW36 after the first day of testing at Jerez.
Although a delay with the arrival of final components meant the FW37 took to the track later than planned on Sunday, Bottas was able to complete 73 laps and he was very encouraged with how things went.
"We had some delays yesterday. Some parts were a bit late and everything was a little bit on the limit to get ready for the first day," he explained.
"But after we got running, everything went really well.
"The initial feeling was good. I feel it's a good base to build on."
Asked if he already felt the car was a step forward over the 2014 machine that took Williams to third in the championship, Bottas replied: "It is, yes. I know that.
"And this is only the first day and we will improve massively during the testing and during the season as well.
"The car was behaving really consistently. I could do really consistent times on the long runs.
"Immediately after the first few laps I had a good feel of the car.
"We were not really trying to set any laptimes. We were just going through the programme and experiencing the new car, and that went really well."
The Finn highlighted aerodynamics as a clear improvement.
"They're a bit more consistent through the corner," he said.
"So that was a nice thing to feel, because you get more trust in the car.
"The car was already good last year, but it feels better already.
"We still have lots to do to unlock more performance, but we don't need to do it here, we still have plenty of time."
Bottas's tally of 73 laps was still 84 behind the amount Nico Rosberg achieved in the Mercedes, but the Williams driver shrugged off the comparison.
"We never planned 150 laps anyway because we had some changes to make which took some time," he said. "Maybe they had a different target."
