Rob Veenstra

Rob founded GPToday together with Danny. He started as an intern at the end of 2004, after which he became the first journalist to be hired and wrote articles and various interesting columns for many years. He was regularly the daily hub of the news, but also provided live coverage of the test sessions.

News

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Prince invites Bernie Ecclestone to Bahrain GP
Bernie Ecclestone will attend his first race of the 2017 season in Bahrain next month. It is not unusual for the 86-year-old to skip some of the early-season 'flyaway' g...

30 Mar 2017 15:19
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Jean Alesi expects Ferrari to shine again in China
Jean Alesi thinks his former F1 team, the great Maranello marque Ferrari, is finally ready to challenge for the title. The Frenchman, whose only win for the Italian team was in ...

30 Mar 2017 14:48
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Easier for former F1 drivers to get paddock passes
Former F1 drivers will find it much easier to attend grands prix in future. In the Bernie Ecclestone era, even though they had entertained the spectators as the 'gladiators&...

30 Mar 2017 14:06
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Massa doubts Alonso will quit McLaren mid-season
Felipe Massa does not think his old Ferrari teammate Fernando Alonso is poised to quit McLaren-Honda and F1. Spaniard Alonso is obviously frustrated amid the current McLaren-Hon...

30 Mar 2017 13:25
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Haas F1 has 'best driver pairing possible'
Team boss Gunther Steiner has defended Haas' 2017 driver lineup. Ahead of the season, the new American outfit replaced ousted 2016 driver Esteban Gutierrez with Renault refu...

30 Mar 2017 12:47
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Villeneuve 'curious' to meet Mick Schumacher
Jacques Villeneuve has tipped a bright future for Mick Schumacher if the young German can "deal with the pressure". The 1997 world champion has a unique perspective on...

30 Mar 2017 12:04
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Massa: "F1 physically harder than before"
Felipe Massa thinks F1 drivers will be tested physically in 2017. That is despite the fact that the sport's new era, characterised by the much faster cars of 2017, kicked of...

30 Mar 2017 11:29
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'At least eight' manufacturers at F1 engine meeting
Audi will not be the only manufacturer not already competing in F1 that will be present for a meeting in Paris on Friday.We reported earlier that the German marque intended to s...

30 Mar 2017 10:57
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Ferrari makes Giovinazzi available to Sauber if needed
Ferrari has decided to make its official reserve driver available to Sauber for the forthcoming China-Bahrain double header. That is the claim of the authoritative Italian daily...

30 Mar 2017 09:36
- 1
Massa: "Without DRS, nobody would pass anyone"
Felipe Massa thinks F1's controversial drag reduction system (DRS) is the only thing providing a glimmer of hope about overtaking in 2017. Renault's Nico Hulkenberg said...

30 Mar 2017 08:51
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Contractual issue halted talks between Mercedes and Alonso
Toto Wolff says it was mainly a contractual issue that halted negotiations between Mercedes and Fernando Alonso ahead of the 2017 season. With McLaren-Honda now deep in crisis, ...

29 Mar 2017 15:35
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Fast Ferrari means Sebastian Vettel will stay
The chance Sebastian Vettel will stay with Ferrari beyond 2017 stepped up a notch in Melbourne. That is the view of former Mercedes chief Norbert Haug, not long after his succes...

29 Mar 2017 14:42
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Audi to attend meeting about F1 engine rules
The Volkswagen brand Audi will attend a forthcoming meeting about the future of F1's engine regulations. That is the claim of the German-language Spox.com, which says the me...

29 Mar 2017 13:54
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'Honda still has to invent good F1 engine'
Two F1 pundits have played down reports McLaren could be about to sensationally dump Honda. Given the great British team's disastrous start to its third season with the Japa...

29 Mar 2017 13:17
- 4
'Raikkonen will get hard time catching Vettel'
Another win for Sebastian Vettel could set up a very difficult season for his Ferrari teammate. That is the view of Niki Lauda, who said the gap between Melbourne winner Vettel ...

29 Mar 2017 12:29
- 8
Lance Stroll: "Formula 1 a big step up"
Lance Stroll says he is sure he will have more difficult races as he gets up to speed in F1. The teenage rookie had a mistake-strewn winter, and he then crashed in Melbourne pra...

29 Mar 2017 11:58
- 1
No F1 return for Bridgestone in near future
Bridgestone is not looking to return to F1 any time soon. The Japanese marque was synonymous with the sport in both the 'tyre war' and single supplier eras until 2011, w...

29 Mar 2017 11:06
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Todt: "Competitive Ferrari is essential for F1"
As far as the F1 pecking order is concerned, Jean Todt says he likes what he has seen so far in 2017. "It's good," he told the Italian newspaper La Repubblica, &qu...

29 Mar 2017 10:33
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Mick Schumacher: "My father is my role model"
Mick Schumacher has broken his long public silence about his father, admitting the F1 legend and former Ferrari and Mercedes driver is "my idol". Schumacher, who has j...

29 Mar 2017 09:41
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Mercedes not commenting on McLaren engine rumours
Niki Lauda has dodged speculation Mercedes could step in to help McLaren solve its performance crisis. Rumours swept the Melbourne paddock last weekend that, now into its third ...

28 Mar 2017 12:44
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Brown: "Alonso could race in F1 for five more years"
McLaren would be willing to sign up Fernando Alonso for five more years, new team executive Zak Brown has hinted. The Spaniard has been with McLaren-Honda since he left Ferrari ...

28 Mar 2017 12:09
- 4
Lauda about Bottas: "We made the right choice"
Valtteri Bottas is being praised from all sides after his solid Mercedes debut in Melbourne. "Initially he was a Calimero," joked Italian journalist Giorgio Terruzzi, ...

28 Mar 2017 11:22
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Max Verstappen must wait for faster Red Bull

Max Verstappen says he must be patient amid Red Bull's push to catch top two F1 teams Ferrari and Mercedes in 2017. While some thought the energy drink-owned team was bluffi...

28 Mar 2017 10:47
- 1
Giovinazzi on pole position for Ferrari race seat?
Antonio Giovinazzi has put himself in pole position for a Ferrari race seat. That is the view of the great Maranello marque's former boss Cesare Fiorio, after Italian Giovin...

28 Mar 2017 10:21
- 5
Lewis Hamilton keeping fit without personal trainer
Lewis Hamilton says he is looking forward to battling Sebastian Vettel for the world championship in 2017. Since 2014, with Mercedes basically alone at the front of the field, H...

28 Mar 2017 09:43
- 1
Mercedes: "Overtaking could be impossible"
We may only be one race into the 2017 season, but Mercedes is already warning that the new rules could be making overtaking on track impossible for the drivers. Speaking to F1&...

27 Mar 2017 16:55
- 8
F1 world hails 'red versus silver' title battle
The F1 world and beyond is now looking forward to an intense inter-team battle for the 2017 world championship. For the first time in the 'power unit' era, Mercedes look...

27 Mar 2017 16:17
- 2
Lowe: "Williams can keep in touch with frontrunners"
Williams' new Chief Technical Officer Paddy Lowe is pleased with his new team's display in Australia on Sunday, following Felipe Massa's sixth place finish. It ...

27 Mar 2017 15:11
- 1
Todt: "We make and control the rules, not Liberty"
Jean Todt has made clear the FIA will continue to make the rules in formula one. As the Liberty Media era begins in earnest, new F1 sporting boss Ross Brawn said in Melbourne he...

27 Mar 2017 15:00
- 4
Horner: "Ferrari strongest, Mercedes not too far ahead"
Team boss Christian Horner has denied losing its 'trick' suspension system is the reason Red Bull struggled in Australia. Many observers are surprised that, with the rul...

27 Mar 2017 14:39
- 0
Alonso: "McLaren last in terms of performance"
Fernando Alonso is not the only team driver who is highly critical of former F1 grandee McLaren-Honda's current predicament. Many observers have interpreted Alonso's pos...

27 Mar 2017 13:05
- 3
Arrivabene: "Ferrari must avoid distractions in 2017"
Ferrari Team Principal Maurizio Arrivabene has said that the Scuderia needs to "avoid distractions" throughout the coming season if it wants to maintain momentum follo...

27 Mar 2017 12:53
- 5
Giovinazzi happy with 'perfect' debut weekend
Antonio Giovinazzi says he will be back in red gear when he returns to the F1 paddock in two weeks. Ferrari's new reserve driver got a shock call-up to the race grid in Aust...

27 Mar 2017 10:58
- 2
FIA to investigate Melbourne track invasion
Officials are investigating the invasion of the Albert Park circuit by spectators while F1 cars were still completing their post-race in-laps on Sunday. Winner Sebastian Vettel,...

27 Mar 2017 09:40
- 1
Force India extends technical partnership with Univa until 2020
Automation data management specialists, Univa, will continue their technical partnership with Sahara Force India for the next four years. The successful working relationship beg...

24 Mar 2017 02:11
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Berger: "The best guys may stand out a bit more"
The beginning of the new era of formula one will not solve all of the sport's problems. That is the view of F1 legend Gerhard Berger, who is just beginning work as the new b...

23 Mar 2017 16:42
- 0
Bottas unlikely to beat Hamilton, says Pat Symonds
It is "a lot to ask" if Valtteri Bottas' fans are expecting the Finn to beat Lewis Hamilton in 2017. That is the news from Pat Symonds, the now-retired technical b...

23 Mar 2017 16:08
- 0
'Ferrari has put pressure on itself with test results'
Toto Wolff has denied claims Mercedes adopted a strategy to "bluff" its way through the recent winter test season. Interest in the 2017 pecking order is almost unprece...

23 Mar 2017 15:30
- 1
Hakkinen: "McLaren will turn around the situation"
McLaren-Honda must be focused in order to emerge from its dire current situation. That is the advice of Mika Hakkinen, the team's 1998 and 1999 world champion who has active...

23 Mar 2017 14:54
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Massa: "Williams can fight for third position"
Felipe Massa has confirmed the paddock perception that Williams looks set to be 'best of the rest' behind F1's top three teams early in 2017. Many observers believe ...

23 Mar 2017 14:25
- 0
FIA planning to get rid of shark fins in 2018
F1 fans will have to get used to the look of the 'shark fins' in 2017. New F1 chief Ross Brawn hinted recently that the unseemly appendages should be banned as soon as p...

23 Mar 2017 13:27
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Liberty Media to sell paddock passes to the public
F1's new owners Liberty Media have followed through on a promise to start opening up the paddock to the public. In the Bernie Ecclestone era, the now ousted 86-year-old fier...

23 Mar 2017 12:46
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Robert Kubica rules out F1 return for now
Robert Kubica said he accepts that returning to F1 will for now remain a closed topic. The Pole's promising F1 career ended abruptly ahead of the 2011 season when he partial...

23 Mar 2017 12:08
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'Mercedes interested in Vettel and Alonso for 2018'
Sebastian Vettel will be on Mercedes' list when the great German team comes to thinking about the 2018 driver lineup. That is the view of Red Bull's Dr Helmut Marko, who...

23 Mar 2017 11:35
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Video: Onboard around Albert Park with Hamilton
The new season starts Sunday in Australia. The track for the first Grand Prix of 2017 is Albert Park in Melbourne. As a preview a video of a lap onboard with Lewis Hamilton arou...

23 Mar 2017 10:43
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Wehrlein gets green light to race in Australia
F1 doctors on Thursday gave Pascal Wehrlein the green light to race in Australia, following a back injury that marred his pre-season. "The back is all good now," the S...

23 Mar 2017 10:20
- 0
'What Williams is doing with Stroll is absolute madness'
Jacques Villeneuve has changed his tune about the F1 debut this weekend of his 18-year-old Canadian countryman Lance Stroll. Earlier, the 1997 world champion defended Stroll'...

23 Mar 2017 09:31
- 4
Sauber extends partnership with MODO for 2017
The Sauber F1 Team is pleased to announce the extention of the partnership with MODO as a Premium Partner for the 2017 FIA Formula One World Championship. MODO is an eyewear com...

22 Mar 2017 14:02
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Wolff: "Relationship with Hamilton has grown"
Toto Wolff says his relationship with Lewis Hamilton is "stronger" ahead of the 2017 season. There were obvious tensions in the silver camp after the Abu Dhabi finale ...

22 Mar 2017 13:17
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Renault solves reliability problem with power unit
Local favourite Daniel Ricciardo's Melbourne hopes got a boost on Wednesday. As the Australian met with the local press ahead of the 2017 season opener, it emerged that Rena...

22 Mar 2017 12:26
- 1
Todt agrees return of V10 engines in F1 is 'unthinkable'
Jean Todt has joined fellow F1 boss Ross Brawn in saying a return of loud, normally-aspirated engines in the sport is "unthinkable". The volume, complexity and expense...

22 Mar 2017 11:39
- 3
Michael Schumacher's 'favourite' uncle dies
The Schumacher family is grappling with its latest blow, as the F1 legend's uncle passes away. Bunte, a German weekly newsmagazine, revealed that Karl-Heinz Schumacher - the...

22 Mar 2017 10:43
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Stuck: "Aerodynamics just makes the races boring"
As excitement builds for the new era of F1, German official Hans-Joachim Stuck thinks the sport has taken a wrong turn. Amid criticism of the spectacle in the last few years, th...

22 Mar 2017 09:50
- 2
Sebastian Vettel names 2017 Ferrari 'Gina'
2017 title favourite Sebastian Vettel has continued his tradition of naming his formula one car for the forthcoming season. The German always gives his single seater a female na...

22 Mar 2017 09:15
- 0
Character as well as inexperience played against Wehrlein
The intense relationship between Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg had become "negative" for Mercedes. That is the claim of Toto Wolff, as he puts a positive spin on the...

21 Mar 2017 13:32
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Carey speaks Ecclestone 'once or twice a week'
New F1 chief Chase Carey says he is still in contact with his ousted predecessor Bernie Ecclestone. But his comments are at odds with the news from 86-year-old Ecclestone himsel...

21 Mar 2017 12:54
- 1
Ferrari spent '100s of millions' to catch up
Ferrari is on the cusp of a much better season in F1. That is the claim of the Italian marque's former chief engineer Toni Cuquerella, who was at Ferrari as recently as 2016...

21 Mar 2017 12:11
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Honda: "Very strong partnership with McLaren"
Honda has hit back at reports its works McLaren collaboration is on the road to tatters. Recently, McLaren did not categorically deny speculation that, in the wake of a dire win...

21 Mar 2017 11:04
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Toto Wolff carries 'lucky injury' into 2017
Toto Wolff is carrying a 'lucky injury' into the 2017 season. The Mercedes chief revealed to the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper that he recently damaged a disc in his bac...

21 Mar 2017 10:16
- 1
'Vettel driving for Mercedes seems like a good fit'
Sebastian Vettel "would fit" into the Mercedes team, according to team boss Toto Wolff. It is the clearest sign yet that the reigning world champions are already looki...

21 Mar 2017 08:56
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Lauda: "Unclear if more teams will buy into F1"
It is still not clear if more teams will join Ferrari in buying into formula one. Recently, it emerged that after Liberty Media made an offer to the teams, Ferrari had taken pos...

20 Mar 2017 16:35
- 1
Ferrari on the cusp of returning to top in Formula 1
Ferrari is on the cusp of returning to the top in formula one. That is the view of Mario Isola, who is taking over from Paul Hembery as the most prominent F1 figure representing...

20 Mar 2017 15:41
- 3
Sauber starts new F1 season as backmarker
Team founder Peter Sauber has admitted the Swiss outfit is set to bring up the rear of the field in 2017. "There are ten teams," he told the Swiss newspaper Sonntagsbl...

20 Mar 2017 15:23
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Carlos Sainz flattered by Alain Prost praise
Carlos Sainz says he is flattered by the praise coming from F1 legend and Renault team advisor Alain Prost. It is believed Renault tried to sign the contracted Toro Rosso driver...

20 Mar 2017 14:50
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Lauda: "Signing Vettel from Ferrari not our plan"
Niki Lauda is heading to Australia denying rumours Mercedes is lining up a tilt to sign Sebastian Vettel. The German team does not deny that Nico Rosberg's successor, Valtte...

20 Mar 2017 13:28
- 3
Jos Verstappen could help more young drivers
Max Verstappen's father is not ruling out trying to help another youngster make his big mark on formula one. The former F1 driver masterminded his teenage son's meteoric...

20 Mar 2017 13:03
- 1
'Second year syndrome' will not strike Haas F1
Team boss Gunther Steiner is confident F1's notorious 'second year syndrome' will not strike Haas. So often, a new team has a much tougher time in F1 in year two, bu...

20 Mar 2017 11:42
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Brawn: "20, 21 races is the maximum for F1"
Ross Brawn says there are enough races on the F1 calendar already. When Liberty Media took over the sport, reports circulated that new chief executive Chase Carey saw potential ...

20 Mar 2017 10:56
- 1
Canamasas 'in talks' with three F1 teams
Formula 2 driver Sergio Canamasas is looking for a role in the F1 paddock for 2017. It appears likely the long-time GP2 driver, who is 28, will stay in the category this year as...

20 Mar 2017 10:01
- 0
'Alonso's attitude admirable, but everything has a limit'
Fernando Alonso will eventually "lose his patience" with McLaren-Honda. That is the view of the famous British outfit's former long-time team manager Jo Ramirez. T...

20 Mar 2017 09:35
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