Races and Competitions

Porsche has ruled out entering formula one. 2016 F1 entrant Gene Haas this week indicated he hopes rumours the German giant Volkswagen - Porsche's parent - is contemplating entering F1 are true. "I think having big manufacturers coming in and supplying engines makes a lot of sense," he told Autoweek and F1 business journalist Christian Sylt. Porsche returned to the premier LMP1 prototype class at Le Mans last year, housing the F1 veteran Mark Webber. This year, Nico Hulkenberg will split...

Ferrari is sticking with its unique 'pullrod' front suspension layout for a fourth consecutive season, according to Italy's Autosprint. The Maranello team has persevered with the approach since 2012, despite the fact pullrod suspension had not previously been seen at the front of a F1 car since Minardi in 2001. It was reported throughout 2014 that Ferrari's pullrod suspension might explain Kimi Raikkonen's notable deficit compared to Fernando Alonso last year. The Finn shone with the...

Less than a month before official winter testing begins, the future of the ailing backmarkers Marussia and Caterham remains unclear. Marussia's administrators have auctioned team equipment, and the factory at Banbury could even be sold to the new American team for 2016, Haas. That is to pay back a long list of creditors, with Forbes journalist Christian Sylt saying even staff are still owed more than $72,000 in pay. But administrator Geoff Rowley insists there "continues to be dialogue...

Jean-Eric Vergne insists his new Ferrari test role is better than a race seat at struggling backmarker Caterham. The 24-year-old Frenchman was dropped by Red Bull after contesting the last three seasons for the energy drink company's second F1 team Toro Rosso. Ferrari has signed him for 2015 to be primarily a simulator driver, as Mexican Esteban Gutierrez will be the official reserve. "Of course it is a good way to stay in touch with the paddock," Vergne told the French sports daily...

Romain Grosjean says this year was even more difficult than the 2012 season, when he was branded F1's 'first lap nutcase' and had to serve a race ban. The French driver, who will stay at Lotus next year for a fourth consecutive campaign, scored a mere handful of points in 2014 as the Enstone team struggled with a poor and underpowered car. Grosjean told RMC Sport: "This was the most difficult year of my career psychologically." That is despite the 28-year-old having to engage the help of...

Lewis Hamilton has taken home yet another plaudit after winning his second drivers' title in 2014. A coveted award in Europe is the Polish press agency's Sportsman of the Year, in which 18 similar sports news services cast their votes. In 2014, it is Mercedes driver and Briton Hamilton who secured the prize with 82 points, in front of German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer's 81 and tennis' Novak Djokovic coming in with 74 points. In fourth place was Cristiano Ronaldo, with 72 points. Alex...

A source has reinforced reports Bernie Ecclestone could be 'reined in' by the incoming new F1 chairman.   Last week, the Financial Times (FT) reported that F1 supremo Ecclestone's long reign is under threat by former Diageo chief Paul Walsh, who is being lined up to take over from current chairman Peter Brabeck.   "Paul has been courted for nine months now," a source close to Walsh told Management Today.   The FT had claimed CVC chief Donald Mackenzie is behind the impending change...

Jenson Button has resorted to jokes as McLaren's farcical delay in announcing its 2015 driver lineup drags on. "I have a new Japanese phone number," said the 2009 world champion. "Maybe that's why I haven't heard anything." The British veteran was attending the annual Autosport awards, as was McLaren's team boss Eric Boullier. Amid growing criticism of McLaren's dithering, Boullier said he hoped the waiting will end within "days". "It's a matter of days, I hope," said the Frenchman,...

McLaren has denied its 2015 driver lineup is delayed due to a behind-the-scenes "problem". The British team is taking heavy criticism for leaving 2009 world champion Jenson Button in the lurch, and endangering the career of the Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen. "A team that has made a reputation of being indecisive has elevated the art to new heights," said Kevin Eason, writing in The Times. "Their behaviour has been shameful." Team supremo Ron Dennis is being universally blamed for the...

The story of Korea's surprise return to the F1 calendar for 2015 has taken another bizarre twist. Insiders were stunned on Wednesday when the FIA published a 2015 schedule featuring an unprecedented 21 races including the return of remote and unpopular Korea. The calendar's author, Bernie Ecclestone, had declared only months ago "I don't want to go back there". And organisers of the Yeongam event, having dropped off the calendar after 2013, declared that the FIA's move to reinstate a 2015...