F1 gossip: Bottas, Alonso, Vettel, Ricciardo, Honda

Friday, 18 May

Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas wants “at least” a two-year Mercedes deal to firm up his Formula 1 future. (Motorsport.com)

Fernando Alonso believes McLaren are now a match for Haas and Renault, despite finishing behind both in the Spanish Grand Prix. (Autosport)

Honda concede they need to decide whether they can cope with the “pressure” and “responsibility” of powering Red Bull before entering a possible deal, after three troubled years with McLaren. (PlanetF1.com)

Sebastian Vettel says the first in-season F1 test came at an ideal time after Ferrari struggled with tyre life at the Spanish Grand Prix. (Crash.net)

Mercedes backed the rule changes for 2019 because it suits them and hurts rivals, Red Bull’s Dr Helmut Marko claims. (Grandprix.com)

Red Bull driver Daniel Ricciardo has called on tyre supplier Pirelli to bring its softest compound to every grand prix. (Autosport)

Wednesday, 16 May

Britain’s weather stopped Formula 1 moving the British Grand Prix to April next year so that Silverstone could host the sport’s 1,000th grand prix. It will instead take place in China. (Sky Sports)

Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was fastest on the first day of testing in Spain, while championship leader Lewis Hamilton put in the most laps with 151. (Autosport)

Mercedes driver Valtteri Bottas believes he is hitting his targets for the season, despite failing to top the podium. (Reuters)

Watch what happened when a young fan, who went viral during Spanish GP qualifying, met McLaren’s Fernando Alonso. (F1 Twitter)

Sebastian Vettel believes Pirelli made “the correct call” in bringing thinner-tread tyres to last weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix, admitting Ferrari would have been “worse off” with the standard specification. (Autosport)

Tuesday, 15 May

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says he is worried for Lewis Hamilton as the Monaco Grand Prix approaches following the team’s poor performance in Monte Carlo last year. (Mail)

Wolff has also confirmed that Daniel Ricciardo is among a number of possible drivers who could join Mercedes for the 2019 season. (PlanetF1.com)

Honda believes a “frustrating” Spanish Grand Prix masked any progression they had made. (Autosport.com)

Pirelli boss Mario Isola says the Spanish Grand Prix would have been a “lottery” had the Italian manufacturer not modified its tyres. (F1i.com)

Sauber’s Charles Leclerc says he learnt “twice as much” racing against double world champion Fernando Alonso at the Spanish Grand Prix. (PlanetF1.com)

Monday, 14 May

Sebastian Vettel has called on Ferrari to address their problems after their slump in Barcelona. (Sky Sports)

Lewis Hamilton says he used his winning drive at the Spanish Grand Prix as a “test bench” as he found his Mercedes to his liking for the first time since Australia and wanted to fully explore the car’s potential. (Motorsport.com)

Sergey Sirotkin says his Williams car’s seat was so uncomfortable he struggled to make it to the chequered flag in Spain. (Autosport.com)

World Championship rivals Hamilton and Vettel will both take part in in-season testing in Spain this week. (PlanetF1.com)

Fernando Alonso believes McLaren have narrowed the gap to their midfield rivals – but still trail the frontrunners by a similar margin as before – after giving their upgraded car a points-scoring result in his home Spanish Grand Prix. (Sky Sports)

Romain Grosjean feels he did all he could to avoid crashing at Turn Three in Barcelona on Sunday despite being given a grid penalty for the next race in Monaco.(Crash.net)

Let’s block ads! (Why?)