Australian Grand Prix Tag

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sebastian Vettel is confident that Ferrari has not shown its true pace after an unspectacular showing in Friday’s opening practice sessions for the Australian Grand Prix. As it stands, Lewis Hamilton swept the two sessions for Mercedes, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen pulling to within 0.127 of a second behind after a strong showing in the afternoon. However, it was Kimi Raikkonen leading the way for Ferrari, who paced fourth best at 0.283 of a second behind the leader, with Vettel posting fifth but over halfRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The cloudy future of Lewis Hamilton became has become slightly clearer. The 33-year-old Brit is in the final year of his contract with Mercedes, but after being crowned champion three of the past four seasons some doubt has crept in about his career beyond 2018. During an FIA press conference on Friday ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, Toto Wolff, Team Principal of Mercedes, candidly addressed the situation. “The contract we have been discussing before going into the winter holiday and then we kind ofRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The 2018 Formula 1 season just got underway with the first practice of the year and we already have a clash on our hands between Ferrari and Red Bull Racing. The head-to-head battle came between the team principals of both squads during Friday’s FIA press conference, with the focal point being the Italian squad’s hiring of FIA safety delegate Laurent Mekies. The situation under scrutiny comes on the heels of Renault’s move to bring on former FIA Technical Director, Marcin Budkowski late last year – thoughRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Sergio Perez is seeking to return to the podium during the 2018 Formula 1 season. The 28-year-old Mexican has seven career podiums to his credit, four of which have come with current team Force India. However, a podium-less campaign last year – a first since 2013 with McLaren – has brought on an additional hunger to return to form. With preseason showing various levels of unpredictability as the season rolls forward with this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, the goal – at the minimum – is that ForceRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Formula 1 is so often the dream for many young aspiring drivers, but it is about to become a reality for Charles Leclerc. The 20-year-old from Monaco is set to begin the next chapter of his racing career when the lights go out for this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix. The climb has been about as methodical as one can get, winning three races en route to the GP3 title in 2016 and moving on to capture seven wins and claim the FIA Formula 2 (formerly GP2Read More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief The moment has finally arrived as months of anticipation over the offseason come to a close this weekend with the Formula 1 season opener. As such, Aston Martin Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen preview the Australian Grand Prix, which takes center stage at Albert Park in Melbourne. Our friends from Mobil 1 The Grid have brought together the two driver’s thoughts in this latest installment. Video Credit: Mobil 1 The GridRead More

By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief Pirelli has revealed the tire selections for Formula 1 teams ahead of next week’s season-opening Australian Grand Prix. The Italian manufacturer and exclusive tire supplier for F1 has added both the Hypersoft and Superhard compounds for 2018. However, the event at Albert Park in Melbourne will see the Ultrasoft, Supersoft and Soft rubber combinations, with each team allowed to choose 10 of 13 sets. McLaren, Mercedes and Williams have chosen nine sets of the Ultrasofts, while Ferrari and Renault have elected for seven. Renault, along withRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Pirelli’s new hypersoft tires, which Lewis Hamilton called, “Pirelli’s best tire since returning to F1,” won’t make their debut until the fourth race of 2018 in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Italian Tire manufacturer has unveiled their compound selection for the first three Grands Prix of 2018 and the softest compound in their range did not make the cut, despite the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix taking place on a street circuit. For Australia, Pirelli will bring the soft, super-soft and ultra-soft tires. ForRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor Ever since Nico Rosberg’s maiden victory at the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, Shanghai International Circuit has been one of Mercedes best tracks on the F1 calendar. Despite Fernando Alonso’s a stunning victory in 2013, the silver arrows have taken pole position every year since 2012 and have won the race every year since 2014. 2016 Champion Nico Rosberg has won it twice, but it’s really three time champ Lewis Hamilton who is the king of China; he has five poles and four wins from 10 startsRead More

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The fear espoused by many in the build up to the season looks like it may have come true; overtaking has been made significantly more difficult, at least so far. Many voices of reason and experience questioned the move to higher downforce cars, veteran drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa who experienced the high downforce machines of the mid 2000’s said that increased downforce wasn’t the answer. Some of the men who designed the notoriously quick but hard to pass cars of that era likeRead More