Formula One Category

By FIA Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas set the pace in the second free practice session for this weekend’s season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in a session that was red-flagged when Kimi Raikkonen’s Alfa Romeo caught fire. The opening phase of the 90-minute session was devoted to running on a prototype Pirelli C4 compound tires with drivers completing a mandatory eight laps on the development rubber. But all three leading drivers failed to set their best times on the soft compound tire as a Turn 1 off, track limits and encountering slowerRead More

By FIA Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen set the fastest lap of the opening practice for the final round of the 2020 FIA Formula One World Championship, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, as Lewis Hamilton finished fifth on the timesheet as he returned to the cockpit for Mercedes following his recovery from COVID-19.  Hamilton completed his 10-day quarantine in Bahrain and after returning a number of negative tests was free to travel to Abu Dhabi following confirmation from the authorities that he could do so. Mercedes confirmed he returned aRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Seven-time Formula One World Champion Lewis Hamilton will be back with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team for the season finale at Abu Dhabi. Hamilton, a five-time grand prix winner at the Yas Marina Circuit, missed last weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix after testing positive for COVID-19 which marked the first time he wasn’t part of a GP weekend since his F1 career began in 2007. From there, he had to complete health protocols required by the FIA where he spent time self-isolating before being tested onceRead More

By FIA Sergio Perez took a stunning maiden victory for Racing Point in Formula 1’s Sakhir Grand Prix after Mercedes’ hopes of a one-two finish collapsed in a disastrous double pit stop and then a late race puncture for long-time race leader George Russell. Esteban Ocon finished second ahead of Lance Stroll, while Mercedes saw Valtteri Bottas finish eighth after he was massively delayed in the team’s bungled stop and George Russell took night place after he sustained a late race slow puncture that sent him back to the pitRead More

By FIA Valtteri Bottas took his fourth pole position of the year by edging new Mercedes team-mate George Russell by just 0.026s in qualifying for the Sakhir Grand Prix as Red Bull’s Max Verstappen took third just three hundredths of a second further back. In Q1 Verstappen was one of the last to take to the track but when he did the Dutchman quickly jumped to the top of the timesheet with a lap of 0:54.037. That remained the benchmark for the bulk of the session, but late in theRead More

By FIA Max Verstappen went quickest in the final practice session for the 2020 Formula 1 Sakhir Grand Prix, beating Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas by two tenths of a second as Pierre Gasly finished third for AlphaTauri.  A quiet start to the session featured Haas new boy Pietro Fittipaldi as the only runner, but when McLaren’s Lando Norris headed out on track after 15 minutes he sparked a flurry of action as a stream of cars followed.  Bottas led through this phase of the hour, with the Mercedes driver using softRead More

By FIA George Russell continued the set the pace for Formula 1’s Sakhir Grand Prix as he edged Max Verstappen by just over a tenth of a second to take top spot in Free Practice 2. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez finished third, while Russell’s new Mercedes’ team-mate Valtteri Bottas only finished in P11 after having a succession of laps deleted for track limits infringements.  Red Bull Racing driver Verstappen led the way in the opening phase of running with a lap of 55.043s set on medium tires but then asRead More

By FIA George Russell set the fastest lap of free practice in his first appearance with Mercedes following his dramatic switch to the Constructors’ champions from Williams following Lewis Hamilton’s positive test for COVID-19 earlier in the week.  The 22-year-old Briton set the pace on the unfamiliar Outer Track of the Bahrain International Circuit, lapping in a time of 54.546 to beat Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen by 0.176. Third place in the session went to Alexander Albon in the second Red Bull.  Piloting the Mercedes W11 for the firstRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Current Formula 2 championship leader Mick Schumacher will be Formula 1 bound next season as Haas F1 Team announced Wednesday that the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher will become teammates with Nikita Mazepin. The 21-year-old German star has honed his racing craft throughout his junior formula career where he’s won championships in Formula 3 in 2018. He’ll hope to lock up the F2 title this weekend at Sakhir where he has a 14-point championship lead over Callum Ilott. Schumacher has netted two featureRead More

By Luis Torres, Staff Writer Both Williams Racing and Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team made the news waves Wednesday morning following their announcements that George Russell will fill-in for Lewis Hamilton (COVID-19) at this weekend’s Sakhir Grand Prix. With Russell taking over Formula One’s most coveted ride, it gave Williams reserved driver Jack Aitken an opportunity to make his grand prix debut this weekend as well. Those decisions were mutually agreed upon, something Team Principal and CEO of Mercedes Toto Wolff took time of thanking Williams because it wouldn’t have beenRead More