Mexican driver Sergio Perez says he’s not feeling the pressure ahead of McLaren debut in Australia this weekend as he sets his sights on winning the world championship. Perez, 23, scored three podiums last season, and just missed out on victory in Malaysia, which prompted McLaren to sign him as a replacement for Lewis Hamilton. Despite only having two seasons under his belt before stepping into a front-running car, Perez told the latest edition of the JA on F1 podcast that he’s unfazed. “Every time you come to a big team, you’re going to replace a big name driver,” said More…

Mercedes team boss Ross Brawn believes his outfit have the best driver line-up in Formula 1 in Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg. The Brackley-based team signed Hamilton to replace seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher alongside Rosberg. Though the car struggled to score points towards the end of last season, Mercedes have shown good pace in testing. Rosberg set the fastest time of winter testing in Barcelona, with Hamilton clocking the third best. And Brawn believes Rosberg, who made his debut for Williams in 2006, has stepped up his performances after spending three years as Schumacher’s team-mate. “If we are honest, More…

Double world champion Fernando Alonso says his Ferrari team will require perfection if they are to win the World Championship. The Italian team last won the constructors’ title in 2008, and the drivers’ – with Kimi Raikkonen – in 2007. Last season, Alonso lead the championship for much of the season, despite having a car which lacked the pace of its immediate rivals, however, he ultimately lost out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel by three points at the finale in Brazil. The team look to be in better shape ahead of the new season but Alonso, 31, says they need More…

McLaren and Vodafone will end their long-running title sponsorship deal at the end of the season. During the partnership, which began in 2007 and was worth $75m per year according to the Financial Times, the team won 34 races and the 2008 drivers’ world championship with Lewis Hamilton. In a statement ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, McLaren said they would announce a replacement for their title sponsor for 2014 after the conclusion of the season on 2 December. McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said: “We’re immensely proud that, having been set a number of ambitious challenges by Vodafone More…

The 2013 F1 season kicks off this weekend with the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. Testing indicates that it will be close, but also that managing tyre degradation will be of paramount importance. So here is our guide to the considerations the teams will make when deciding the all important strategy for qualifying and the race. Track characteristics Albert Park Circuit; 5.303 kilometres. Race distance: 58 laps = 307.574 kilometres; 16 corners in total, none particularly fast. Aerodynamic setup – Medium/high downforce. Top speed 318km/h (with Drag Reduction System on rear wing) – 308km/h without. Full throttle – 65% of More…

Welcome to the first JA on F1 podcast of 2013. As last year, we will be coming out every month throughout the F1 season, going behind the scenes of this fascinating sport, providing in depth analysis and behind the scenes insight, talking to the big names and introducing a wide cast of characters. In this season build-up edition we have a packed podcast, as we head towards Melbourne: * Mercedes set the pace as testing came to a close. But are they genuine contenders? And who is looking good? Former Williams chief engineer Mark Gillan, now JA on F1 Technical More…

The promoters of the new Formula E series have released details of eight city centre races that will form the basis of the new zero emission motor sport championship next season. And we want to hear your thoughts on the initial designs for the new car. The host cities are London, Rome, Los Angeles, Miami, Beijing, Putrajaya (Malaysia), Buenos Aires and Rio de Janeiro. The London event will be particularly exciting as it is believed to be based around the Olympic Park in Stratford. Two more venues are expected to join the calendar before it is finalised in September. The More…

Lady Virginia Williams, wife of Williams F1 Team founder Sir Frank, has died at the age of 66 after a battle with cancer. According to a statement from the team, “Lady Virginia, or ‘Ginny’ as she was better known, died peacefully at the family home last night surrounded by Frank and the rest of the Williams family. Ginny had been bravely battling cancer for the past two and a half years. Ginny will always be an integral part of Williams’ history and success, and today we pay tribute to a much loved member of the Williams family who will be More…

There has been a lot of speculation in recent days about Honda and McLaren reviving the famous partnership, which brought domination of F1 in the later 1980s and early 1990s. It began towards the end of last season, but has grown in intensity recently. This is probably due to the fact that attention is now focussing on the major engine changes in 2014 and McLaren has every reason to want to move away from Mercedes, despite having an option to use their new generation hybrid engines in 2014 and 2015. In the last few years Mercedes has withdrawn as a More…

Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso has told his rivals that he is better prepared ahead of the new season than last year – and he believes this year will be stronger. The double world champion led the championship for much of 2012, despite having an inferior car to the Red Bull and McLaren, but missed out to Red Bull’s Sebastian Vettel by three points. But after training hard during the winter and showing good pace in winter testing, setting the second fastest time on the final day in Barcelona, Alonso has high hopes for this season. “Last year was the best year More…