Ovidiu Panzariu
6,718 ARTICLES
Favorite quote: “Winning is everything. The only ones who remember you when you come second are your wife and your dog”, Damon Hill, 1996 F1 champion
Nigel Mansell Becomes Lotus Ambassador
25 Jan 2011, 10:33 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Nigel Mansell has recently welcomed Group Lotus' decision to return to Formula One racing, saying that seeing the iconic Black and Gold colours back on the F1 grid will probably cause him some strong feelings next season. A few weeks later, me...
Prost Says Schumacher's Return to Top Form Is Impossible
25 Jan 2011, 09:35 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Lately, everybody keeps making excuses for Michael Schumacher's struggles during his first year of F1 return. While his team boss Ross Brawn thinks a better F1 simulator would have helped Schu get better reacquainted with driving at F1 standar...
Schumacher Sick of F1 Simulator Work
25 Jan 2011, 09:08 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / A few weeks back, Mercedes GP's team boss Ross Brawn argued that the absence of a top simulator had hampered Michael Schumacher's efforts to make a successful comeback into F1. However, according to Dutch website f1today.nl, quoting a sou...
Hispania F1 Will Not Have New Car Until Bahrain
25 Jan 2011, 08:43 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / A year has gone by and Hispania Racing F1 Team doesn't seem to have learnt much from their first campaign in Formula 1. As last year, the Spanish team will be unable to test their new challenger during the majority of the group tests scheduled...
Fisichella Involved in Minor Traffic Crash in Italy
25 Jan 2011, 08:11 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Formula 1 drivers – former or who are currently competing in the series – don't usually make the headlines on local or national newspapers as a result of traffic crashes. What they usually do is go over the speed limit or do some b...
Lotus Naming Row to End on March 21
25 Jan 2011, 07:38 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / The legal battle between Team Lotus and Group Lotus regarding the right to use the name “Lotus” in Formula 1 will likely find an early settlement this year. Although it was initially projected that a definitive end (legally speaking) to...
BMW Quit F1 Too Early - Berger
24 Jan 2011, 15:47 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / BMW may have retired from Formula 1 a bit too early, argues former Grand Prix driver and BMW motorsport director Gerhard Berger. The Austrian, who moved to team ownership a few years after giving up his role with the German manufacturer, insisted t...
Andy Priaulx Commits to Full Le Mans Campaign with BMW
24 Jan 2011, 15:24 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / BMW's retirement from the FIA World Touring Car Championship was announced for some time, along with the fact that 3-time world champion Andy Priaulx will also leave the series in order to commit to the German carmaker's future racing pro...
Australian GP Boss Backfires at Melbourne Mayor
24 Jan 2011, 14:52 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / This past weekend has been quite hard on the organizers of the Australian F1 Grand Prix, as they had to face public criticism from the very lord mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle. Writing in the Herald Sun's Sunday edition, Doyle stressed the f...
JJ Lehto Open to Manslaughter Charge Following Boat Crash
24 Jan 2011, 14:18 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Former Formula 1 driver JJ Lehto is apparently facing manslaughter charges as a result of the boat crash he was involved in last June. As we reported at the time, Lehto had taken his speedboat for a ride with a friend of his when, somewhere around ...
Raikkonen Signs 10-Round Deal in the WRC
24 Jan 2011, 13:41 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / As revealed by Kimi Raikkonen's manager a few days ago, the Finnish driver will continue to drive in the World Rally Championship for the second year running, in 2011, at the wheel of a works Citroen WRC racer. Kimi will switch from last year&...
Latvala Crashes Fiesta RS WRC During Sweden Test
24 Jan 2011, 11:57 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Ford's testing programme with their new Fiesta RS WRC have taken an unexpected blow this past weekend, after Jari-Matti Latvala was involved in a crash at over 150 km/h (91 mph) during the second day of testing in Sweden. As part of Ford�...
Force India Boss Praises Adrian Sutil, Hints to Deal Extension
24 Jan 2011, 11:22 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Force India is the only team in Formula 1 right now that doesn't have at least one confirmed driver for the 2011 season, yet the signs that come from their Silverstone headquarters are pointing to one direction: Adrian Sutil will surely be ins...
Audi Confirms Le Mans Lineup for New R18
24 Jan 2011, 10:51 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / An old saying goes somewhat like this: If it works, why change it? And this must have surely been on the mind of Audi's Motorsport boss Wolfgang Ullrich, who confirmed earlier today that all 9 drivers that managed to bring the German carmaker ...
Dumas, Bernhard to Race Porsche 911 GT3 in National Rallies
24 Jan 2011, 10:28 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Two of the most successful drivers in the recent history of sportscar endurance racing, Timo Bernhard (Germany) and Romain Dumas (France) are set to embark on personal journeys into the world of rallying. In parallel to their commitments in the Le ...
Kobayashi to Debut Sauber C30 on January 31st
24 Jan 2011, 10:12 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / One year after he made his full-time debut in Formula 1, Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi has become a true driving force within the Sauber Team. And it's only natural that when the Swiss squad will make available their 2011-spec challenger, it...
Ecclestone Linked with $50 Million Bribe for F1 Commercial Rights
24 Jan 2011, 09:10 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / A few weeks back, a German newspaper was claiming that Bernie Ecclestone, the chief executive of Formula 1 racing, had paid German banker Gerhard Gribkowsky a $50 million kickback when the commercial rights of the championship were sold by BayernLB...
Briatore Disagrees with Mark Webber's Secret Injury
24 Jan 2011, 08:40 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Flavio Briatore told the media that Mark Webber should have kept his injury in the later stages of the 2010 Formula 1 season a secret until the end. Instead, the Australian driver revealed in his book – published after the championship finale...
Rosberg Not Afraid of Schumacher, Vettel
24 Jan 2011, 08:10 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Mercedes GP's Nico Rosberg insisted that there is no reason why he shouldn't be optimistic for the season to come, especially since he and his team have worked hard to catch up over the winter. While acknowledging that the difference betw...
Chandhok Eyeing Team Lotus Friday Driver Role
24 Jan 2011, 07:51 UTC · By: Ovidiu Panzariu / Karun Chandhok might return to Formula One racing for the 2011 season, but not as an official race driver. According to the PTI press agency, it seems that the Indian driver is very close to landing a reserve driver deal with Tony Fernandes' T...